Cornell University Library OF THE ew Work State College of Agriculture PAse.3 ZAG : valu z. } 806 Cornell University Library SF 487.894 1908 Success with poultry; 3a bo ok on successfu HOC ; 1924 002 9 SUCCESS WITH POULTRY SIXTH EDITION A BOOK ON SUCCESSFUL AND PROFITABLE POUL- TRY RAISING CONTAINING VALUABLE INFORMATION FOR PERSONS WHO THINK OF ENGAGING IN ANY BRANCH OF THE POULTRY BUSINESS FOR PROFIT ok tage PRICE ONE DOLLAR EDITED BY J. W. MYERS PUBLISHED BY RELIABLE INCUBATOR & BROODER Co. QUINCY, ILLINOIS. z Se by Reliable Incubator and Brooder Co., ‘Quincy, IIl., 1908. All Rights F Reserved. TARA ARAM ARAMA PAP, FAD ABARAR ARAANAAABAEAERAAARARAAAARRAAAAAAAAAAAR We I | i Success With Poultry A. Book on Successful and Profitable Poultry Raising Containing Valuable Information for Persons Who Think of Engaging in any Branch of the Poultry Business for Profit fe ~o nt anes ar eat ye ge ot oa. ts ny whe We SIXTH EDITION ot PUBLISHED BY RELIABLE INCUBATOR AND BROODER COMPANY QUINCY, ILLINOIS COPYRIGHTED SEPTEMBER, 1908, BY THE RELIABLE INCUBATOR & BROODER CO., QUINCY, ILLINOIS ALL RIGHTS RESERVED a INTRODUCTORY , ee = x oe o d ¥ T: book is-to be compiled in dead earnest. Poultry keéping may be a fad with a limited few, but in a’ vast majority of, cases it is a serious matter, a ques- tion of bread and butter, of a livelihood, and any book written or eompiled on the subject of Success with Poultry should view the poultry business in this light. We . shall not put into this book a single statement nor a bit of advice in which we have not full confidence, We do not wish to misrepresent in the least, or to deceive anybody. We do hope that this book may be the means of helping a large number of people who wish to better their condition in life and are in a position to-handle poultry with both pleasure- and profit, We shall put into this book therefore, only the - best information and best aderies at our. coninienG, doing so with a full understand- ing of our responsibil- ity. , Success with Poul- try depends upon much the same things that success does in any un- dertaking or business enterprise. To be suc- cessful in any line of work slothful, careless, extravagant habits must give way to thrifty, pains - taking methods. Thought must be put into your work. Cause and eicect must be studied; all the details must be looked after with in- telligent care, and the hand that receives the ‘income must constant- ly watch the hand that pays out. ‘here is money—‘‘good money,’’ as the saying goes—to be made out of poultry, but this business, like any other, must be learned before great things can be accom- plished. Like. other human enterprises, poultry-raising pays better and better accordingly as you put more and more thought into the business. In the poultry business, above all others, ordinary common sense is the thing most useful. It is not within the scope of this book to cover every. ‘ease, but no matter where we go, certain things are true about poultry and poultry keeping, among the number being these: That poultry and eggs at all times of the year meet with a ready sale for cash; that as a rule the price for poul- try and eggs does not fall below the cost of production,where intelligent methods are employed; that extra or gilt-edged prices can everywhere be obtained for gilt-edged stock, that is, for extra choice, uniform and neatly dressed fowls and strictly .resh eggs; that it costs practically no more when one ig rightly equipped for the work to produce a gilt- edegd article than an inferior one; that by the proper use of arti- A Pen of Barred Plymouth Rocks 8 ficial: means the highest market price can be obtained at all . seasons of the year; that by adopting up- -to-date methods, hundreds of dozens of eggs can be produced during the sea- sous of the year when they will command the higher prices, and that hundreds, yes, thousands of chickens or ducklings can now be raised with success and profit on a comparatively small plat of ground. A surprisingly amount of poultry and eggs can be produced on an acre of ground, while a full- .fledged farm can be conducted on a five acre piece, where knowledge and good sense go hand in hand. : Not all. men are qualified to succeed to the same extent, ‘but we-claim it is fair to-cite exceptional cases of success in the poultry business, where the methods employed and the man or woman who employs them is not a wonder-worker es in any way, except that he or she has put ‘heart and brains into the work. There are several branches of the poultry business that are separate and distinct from each oth- er, although a number of successful men and women whom we know combine two or more branches of the busi- ness with success, What one man or wo- man has done, or is do- ing, others can do; 7 | actual cases of success that have come under our personal observa- tion, we feel that we are simply pointing out what others ean do. It is no doubt true that where one person succeeds with poultry several fail. If this were not true there would be no excuse for publishing this book, the chief object of which is to describe success as it exists, and to explain fully how it was achieved. It is not the object of this book to induce thoughtless, heedless persons to rush pell-mell into poultry raising. All such per- sons will do well to give poultry raising a wide berth. Their habits will not win in this business. We do not mean to convey the idea that it takes a. specially high order of intel- ligence to succeed with poultry, for it does not, but we are frank enough to warn the reckless, the shiftless and the indolent that they will make a flat failure with poultry. eeeseces as Bred by Reliable Poultry Farm. THE SO-CALLED FANCY POULTRY BUSINESS. Let us describe briefly the leading branches of the poul- try business. We hear most about the fancy or standard-bred poultry business, and for good reasons, or no dout it is really the most important when we come to consider how insignifi- cant the poultry industry was thirty to fifty years ago as hence, when we cite SUCCESS WITH POULTRY 3 compared with what it has grown to be at the present day, .the great change being due very largely to the work of fan- ciers, so-called, in- breeding to a standard, that is, to different types and ideals, founded, as a.rule, on the secure basis of combined utility and beauty. By ‘‘fancy’’ in poultry is meant, that which is pleasing to look at—the beautiful in form and feather. By ‘‘utility’’ is meant size, vigor, color or skin, egg production, ete., and the ability of a type to reproduce in its progeny those qualities that are especially desirable in market poultry. Persons who are not posted on the subject of standard-bred poultry can have no idea of what is meant when we say that there are over one hundred distinct varieties of standard poultry, ranging in weight all the way trom a few ounces in the case of bantams, to Mam- moth Bronze turkeys weighing, in exceptional cases, as hign as forty-five to fifty pounds. The writer once saw and lifted a Mammoth Bronze turkey tom (gobbler) which weighed fifty-two pounds. So far as egg yield is concerned, the average American ken, as set forth by the census of 1890, lays less than 100 eggs per year. On the other hand, as a result of the work. done by the intelligent fancier or breeder, flocks of Lég- horns running fifty to a pen, including 600 fowls in all, have been made to average 194 eggs in 365 days, while in other cases smaller ‘flocks consisting of from eight to twenty-four hens have averaged, according to what were believed to be reliable reports, from 220 to 288 eggs per hen in 365 days. Many hen-men are disposed to dispute these last stated aver- ages, but that is a common failing with mankind. ‘That which a man tries hard to do but fails to accomplish, he is prone to deny when credited to others. A man whose hens lay only three or four clutches of eggs:a year, and this | means the average farmer, will be as quick to dispute the statement that 600 hens of any variety could possibly aver- age 194 eggs per year as is the average man to dispute the statement that eight White Plymouth Rocks ever succeeded . in laying an average of 288 eggs in 365 days. . Possibly, just possibly no eight hen ever did this, but we have enough faith _ in mankind to recall a Biblical admonition to the effect that the man who hath said in his heart all men are liars is— mistaken. We leave this subject. for the time being, simply referring the reader to a chapter in this book entitled ‘‘Feeding for Eggs,’’ which. gives an account of an actual egg contest conducted by a well-known and highly respected stock and farm paper, in which are given the results accom- plished by six different pens of fowls, together with an interesting and valuable aceount by the respective owners of how these fowls were housed, fed and cared for. We also eall the reader’s attention to a table printed in this book entitled ‘‘Characteristics of Breeds.’’ It will be of help to investigators of the poultry subject when they come to select the breed or variety they desire to handle. Suffice it to add that in numerous well authenticated cases individual hens have averaged from 200 to 230 eggs each per annum. THE STANDARD OF PERFECTION. The American Standard of Perfection, a book of some 250 pages, is often referred to as the national guide of poul- trymen. This book is published under copyright by the American Poultry Association, a national organization de- voted to the advancement of the poultry industry. In this book each class, breed and variety is set forth, and each and every variety is described with great care as to size, form and color, and every breeder is aiming to produce fowls from year to year that will come as near as possible to the stand- ard requirements; Wonderful progress has been made by intelligent and persevering breeders, and the choicest speci- mens from year to year are placed on exhibition at the annual poultry shows by the breeders themselves, or are sold to other breeders for exhibition purposes. At these poultry shows (some 300 or more of which are held every winter in the leading cities of the country, in addition to hundreds of poultry departments that are run in connection with annual district, state or county fairs), so-called poul- try judges, or men who are well versed in the standard re- quirements and who make a business of judging poultry either of what is called the score card; judge the fowls on ex- hibition and cash premiums or ribbons are given to the birds that come nearest to perfection, that is, to the standard re- quirements, Comparison judging, as it is called, is the pop- ular method at the fall fairs, mainly from the fact that poul- try at this season of the year is not in the pink of condi- tion for exhibition purposes. The young stock is too young to be in fuli feather and the old stock is in the molt, that is shedding its old feathers and putting on the new plumage with which to go into the winter season. On the other hand, from November 1 to February 15, the season of the winter poultry exhibitions, both the young and old fowls are in fine feather and show up to best advantage. At these win- ter shows the score card is generally used. We present here- with a form of score card provided by the American Poultry Association: : A. P. A. STANDARD SCORE CARD Specimen. SCor ed .rroDO 2%... 1906 For -Reliable Poultry Farm Variety Light Brahma og Cockerel Entry RING NO ross Bn. Weight... AK. SYMMETRY Typical mel Shape... eee Shape BREAST .. WEIGHT ............)...... Color. ....|...... CONDITION .......... BODY ana { Shape COMB eke setace ddl = PEURE | ilo eat BYES osg05 Gcanihunilee Shape.. |...... WINGS ... 1 Shape te Color ....|..... HEAD wu Color al eens Shape .../..5.. TAIL ..... WATTLES ae ube aes Color.... AND EARLOBES ( Color....|...... LEGS and eal a Shape...]...... a0ES Color... )..07., NECK..... x ; Color....)..7.. || CREST & i Asistien Shape...|...... BEARD /color....|...... BACK . K Color ....|| Hardness of Feather..|...... This is a duplicate of an actual card made out for a par- ticular bird belonging to the Reliable Incubator & Brooder Company, which scored 94% points, that is, in the estimation 4 SUCCESS WITH POULTRY of Judge Emry, this specimen came within 534 points of per- fection, which is represented by 100 points. The cut shows where the bird was defective, in his opinion, and to what extent. We thus give the average reader who is not posted on standard-bred poultry matters a general idea of how the score card is used, but we cannot go into detail within the scope of this book. Let us say, however, that these poultry exhibitions are of incalculable help in developing the poul- try industry in all its branches, in that they create great interest and win an ever increasing number of new friends tor fowls that are both useful and beautiful. Many people who have not given the subject careful and logical thought feel free to ridicule the beautiful in standard-bred poultry. They simply under-estimate the great value that beauty in fowls has been in atracting attention, creating interest and winning thereby new and lasting friends for poultry bred to a combined ideal—the acme of utility and beauty. Our poul- try shows, together with the superior work now being done by poultry artists and the more recent use of photographic reproductions, showing choice specimens of different varie- ‘ties axactly as they are in life, have done and are doing a great work in developing the poultry industry, and whoever depreciates any one of them simply either is not well posted or is not mentally qualified to deliver a sound opinion. A CHIEF SECRET OF SUCCESS. It will be readily understood by the intelligent reader that whoever among the breeders of standard poultry is able to produce specimens that come nearest to perfection, that is, to standard requirements, will be able to obtain for these best specimens high prices. ‘The fact is that in England, where the standard-bred poultry business is older than in this country, and where the interest is even greater, poultry shows being held every week in the year, as high as $1,000 has been refused in a number of cases for extra choice and- extra valuable specimens as breeders, while in this country as high as $100 is paid every season for extra choice speci- mens, and from $200 to as high as $300 has been refused from time to time for some particular bird with a proud record at a leading poultry show. These birds are valuable, not alone for their individual excellence and the’ record they have made, but also because they are the result, as a rule, of years of careful and systematic breeding and carry in their veins blood that is able to reproduce the excellent qual- ities or characteristics for which this individual bird is so highly prized. : Here, then, is one of the chief secrets of success in breeding standard -poultry satisfactorily. In the beginning, 80 ‘we are told by men who are posted in chicken lore, there existed only one kind of chicken, a black and red jungle fowl of uncertain origin. It is claimed that from this one kind or variety man has produced through selection and persistent matings, the one hundred or more distinct varieties of poul- try now in existence. No doubt this is substantially true, for more than half the varieties of fowls now described in the American Standard of Perfection and bred in large num- bers at the present time have been ‘‘created’’ within the lifetime of poultrymen now living, and even within the past twenty-five years a dozen or more of our popular varieties have come into existence. For example, twenty-five years ago there were no Buff Cochins, Silver Laced Wyandottes, White Wyandottes, White Plymouth Rocks, Buff Plymouth Rocks, Buff Wyandottes or Buff Leghorns in this country. The majority of these varieties did not exist in the world. New varieties are being created from time to time, some claim too numerously, others think not. Regardless of which is right, the constant aim may be said to be improvement either in utility or beauty, or both, and the goal sought at all times in the breeding of every variety is greater excellence, and the man or woman who is able to ‘‘mix the paints’’ and use ‘‘an eye for outline’’ to the best advantage is certain to win a golden reward, for the competition is keen and there is a widespread and constantly growing desire to ‘‘own the best.’? Frankly, more than average intelligence and enter- prise are required in order to produce extra choice standard specimens. It has been said that ‘‘any fool cam set a hen, but it takes brains to produce thoroughbred poultry.’’ This remark is more true than elegant, but in all walks of life it is the same. The richer the reward the greater the effort re- quired to obtain it. Inasmueh as it has taken years to create the different varieties of standard-bred poultry, building them up to such THE POULTRYMAN’S CHART. The above Chart shows the sectional parts of a fowl: 1, Comb; 2, Face; 3, Wattles; 4, Earlobes; 5. Hackle; 6, Breast; 7, Back; 8, Saddle; 9, Saddle Feathers; 10, Sickles; 11, Tail Coverts; 12, Main Tail Feathers; 13, Wing-bow; 14, Wing Coverts, forming Wing Bar; 16, Secondaries, Wing Bay; 16, Primaries or Flight Feathers, Wing Butts; 17, Point of Breast Bone; 18, Thighs; 19, Hocks; 20, Shanks or Legs; 21, Spurs; 22, Toes or Claws. an extent that they will reproduce the desirable qualities and charteristics, it follows that the one way to preserve and augment these qualities and characteristics is to buy into a strain and stick to that strain for better or for worse. A common mistake made by persons who go. into the standard- bred poultry business is to buy a few hens or pullets here, a i 3 a 3 c ekerel there, some eggs from still another place, crossing and mixing the blood of different strains, regardless of the loss of the breeding lines on. which these different strains have been developed. It is equivalent to throwing just that much money away, provided your aim is to make progress in breeding to standard requirements, The better way to do * a the only sensible way to do, is to buy into some established SUCCESS WITH POULTRY 5 strain, thus starting neck and neck with the breeder who ereated the strain. A beginner even in this case is at a dis. advantage, but he ‘stands a fair chance of success, and progress is possible to him, where he mixes the blood of two or more strains a set-back is almost certain to occur. There is a good deal to learn about poultry, especially the art of breeding to standard requirements with marked success. Buy, therefore, with intelligence, not haphazardly, and it is the part of wisdom to decide’on some breeder with an established reputation both as to the quality of his stock and his reliability as a man, then enlist his interest on your be- half, invite his advice until you are confident you know, of your own knowledge, what you should do. Do not be in a hurry to ‘‘go it alone.’’? You will find sooner or later that men and women have grown old in the poultry business and still do not know it all. Be resolved, therefore, to be a good listener. Be patient, stick to it like grim death, and “A Pair of Imperial Pekin Ducks. put into your work all the heart and all the brains at your command, Remember that some of the brightest men and women the Almighty has created in this generation are breeding standard poultry and doing their level best to show you a clean pair of heels. Remember that birds of your breeding, produced for exhibition- purposes, must come into competition with those produced by. men who have had years of experience, by men of bright intellect, men of un- limited capital, men who ‘breed. to win and because they love the beautiful and excellent in fowls, not alone because of the money value in them. There is a sportsman side to this branch of the business that is legitimate and fascinat- ing. While there is not much danger of any leading branch of, the poultry business being overdone for many years to come, we believe we are safe in saying that the only branch of it which cannot and never will be overdone is that of producing standard specimens. Perfection is no doubt unattainable, but it will be sought to the end, and the men .and women who are able to produce fowls approaching nearest to perfection ‘will be well rewarded. POULTRY AND EGGS FOR MARKET. Probably four out of every five persons who think seri- ously of embarking in the poultry business approach it from what may be called the practical or market side. Their first idea is to raise hundreds of thousands of chickens for the common market, and we regret to say that as a rule they do not look earefully enough into the subject before invest- ing their capital, and as a direct result many failures are recorded. We know of no business wherein a man who is apt with figures and given to figuring can make untold wealth easier or quicker than in producing poultry for mar- ket—on paper. We remember that the first time we got the fever it took one side of a sixteen-foot board for us to fig- ure out the profits we were to make from a broiler plant that was to have a capacity of 8,000 broilers per season. We were not daft—simply figuring. 5 . There is money in poultry for market, we would almost say plenty of it, but it depends on the man. It was Napoleon who said: ‘‘Men are nothing; a man is everything.’’ This is true in the poultry business as well as in war or statesmanship. But the men who achieved success are not extraord- inary men. They are simply good American cit- izens who mean business and attend carefully to their own knitting. They are firm believers in the two old sayings, ‘‘What is worth doing at all is worth doing well,’’ and, ‘‘If you would be well served, serve yourself.’’ "To all those whocontemplate raising poul- try and eggs for market, let us say that a good market is of first importance. You should know what market you are to supply and what that market demands before you spend a dollar or take the first step toward going into the busi- ness. What you will want to do is to get into a position to furnish exactly what your market demands, what it prizes most highly and will pay a premium on. Desirable goods always sell the easiest, and you will want to join with your market men in catering to’ this invariable rule. A great secret of success is to send to market just what that market wants, delivering it there in the most attractive form possible, so as to attract favorable attention and command the highest prices. Not one poultryman in twenty gives particular attention to this important mat- ter, but this simply means that the opportunity is all the greater for the twentieth one who has the good judgment to.do so. As illustrating this point, we direct the readers’ attention to the plan followed successfully by many poultrymen who take care in dressing and packing their poul- try and putting up their eggs in attractive style, having eggs of each color separately packed. This receives a premium above market price. A premium of five cents per dozen on strictly fresh eggs is all profit, and a premium of three to five cents per pound on neatly dressed fowls that are uniform in shape, color and size, is also practically clear profit. In- asmuch as this clear profit amounts from 10 to 20 per cent of the gross receipts, here alone is margin enough to make a success of the business when rightly conducted. Permit us to emphasize the fact in the mind of the reader that these pointers can be made to be worth hundreds of dollais to him if he will but heed them. BEWARE OF WORTHLESS ADVICE. We want to inject a word-of-warning just here. Nearly every man you meet has been, is, wants to be a poultry ‘ ‘ 6 SUCCESS WITH POULTRY erank! He either has had, has now, or will have sometime in his life what is called the ‘‘chicken fever.’’? The point is this: Everyone of these men believes he has a plan in his head out of which he can make big money in the poultry business. The milk of human kindness is so plentiful that each one of these men is willing to try his plan on some friend or neighbor. We want to advise the reader in all seriousness against being that ‘‘friend or neighbor.’’ You really cannot afford it. In ninety-nine cases out of a hun- dred these well-meaning men do not know east from west in the poultry business. Their knowledge consists of 75 per cent of hope and enthusiasm and 25 per cent of what they have read, seen and heard here, there and everywhere. These men are dangerous advisers—look out for them. A Montana woman came 1,300 miles'to consult the writer about embarking in the'business of producing eggs for mar- ket. We said to her, ‘‘Madam, write out a check for $25, inclose it in a letter of inquiry to Mr. and ask him to kindly write out for you in black and white a full account of his fifteen years’ experience in this line of work, stating’ > RevABLE PourTay Jour : A Pair of Full-Feathered Buff ‘Cochins. in full the mistakes made by him, what they cost him, how he overcame every obstacle, what measure of success he has met with, ete. When he writes you all about it, advising you, as he will, just how in his opinion you should proceed, make up your mind once for all to follow his ad- vice closely, disregarding anything and everything any one else tells you. Beware of the man who has a planbutwho has. never had actual experience. Above all things distrust your own pet schemes and ideas, based as they are on theo- ry and Jead- pencil work rather than on actual experience. Do this, stick to it wet or dry, hot or cold, and you should be able to succeed. Pay precious little attention to what inter- ested friends tell you.and steer clear of the worthless poultry paper. Fully 75 per cent of the stuff that is printed in vari- ous poultry papers and in the poultry departments of the average agricultural paper is clear guess work. It is not only valueless, but dangerous, for the man or woman who does not know any better, may accept and follow bad advice just as eagerly as pure gospel, but the outcome will be very different. Above all things, you want the best that money will buy in the shape of advice, and really valuable advice | generally costs something. That which we get for nothing is too often worth no more than it costs. PURE-BRED OR MONGREL STOCK. No man is justified in handling mongrel poultry—not in this day and age of the world. It is the same with. poultry as with horses, or cattle, or sheep, or hogs—the most money is to be made in producing thorough-bred or standard-bred stock. It takes no more house room or yard room, no more feed, no more time and labor to raise 100 or 1,000 pure blood fowls than it does to raise an equal number of mougrels, bit the value of the product in one case ranges from twice to several times as much as in the other, according to your skill as a breeder, and the market you reach. In this day of over-production (so-called), what is want- ed in many lines of effort is quality, not quan- tity alone. We have too much quantity and not enough quality. There is a premium in every market on quality, and that premium is nine-tenths profit. When asked by the inexper- jenced ‘‘Which will pay the best, breeding thouorghbred poultry, or raising poultry for market??? we invariably answer, ‘‘Unite the _two.’? If you are a farmer or villager and have mongrel stock, make up your minds to work into pure-bred stock as soon as you can, without un- wise haste or expense. If you have no stock at all, decide upon some plan of securing pure-bred stéck. It may be wise for you to get some mon- grels to help make your start in the business, but by all means lay your plans with a view to handling nothing but pure-bred stock at the earliest date consistent with your capital and opportunities. “SILVER WYANDOTTES VS. ‘‘DUNG-HILL SOUPERS.”’ ‘Armour & Co., are killing and dressing ‘three thousand to six thousand head of chickens a day; it would pay you to see their place; you would get some interesting facts,’’ wrote Mr. Hawk, of Kansas City, when we were consider- ing the advisability of a trip west this winter. A few days later while turning over the pages of the Midland Poultry Journal (of Kansas City) we came upon an advertisement of Messrs. Ar- mour & Co., urging farmers to-get thoroughbred Wyan- dotte, Plymouth Rock or Indian Game males to improve the quality of their poultry. ‘That certainly is unique.’ we thought. ‘There is a meaning to that, if we could only get at it. Business men are not as a tule, paying advertis- ing bills without there being reasonable grounds for expect- ing returns in the shape of profits.’ “That advertised advice was a puzzle, and the solution of the puzzle was one of the first things we asked, for when. we stepped off the train at Kansas City, and found Mr. Hawk awaiting us. It is a simple story. Armour & Co. have added poultry dressing and shipping, to their beef, mutton and pork packing and shipping. One day last fall there came to the slaughter house, among a great many other coops of chickens, several coops containing ‘‘eulls’’ from a SUCCESS WITH POULTRY 7 farm where are kept Wyandottes only. Instructions were given to have that lot kept together and by themselves, so that they might be compared with the common ‘‘dunghills’’ of which the bulk of the receipts consisted. When dressed and arranged for comparison, it was easy to see that the pure-bred Wyandottes were far superior in plumpness, full- ness of breast, smooth fair skin, yellow legs—in fact, that it was a far better average lot of dressed poultry than the common stock. Mr. Armour’s attention was called to the display, and he instructed the foreman in that department to pack five cases, of one hundred pounds each, ship one of them to each of five commission houses at different points in the east, and hand him a special report of the returns— also reporting. prices returned on common chickens sent to the same places the same day. When the returns came in it was found that the five cases of Wyandottes were graded as ‘A No. 1,’’ and the price was three cents a pound more than for the common chickens. ‘‘What an object lesson! ‘*Armour & Co. are killing three thousand to six thou- sand head a day—six to ten tons. Calling it an average of eight tons, three cents more a pound makes a difference of $480 a day—$144,000 a year! Is it any wonder that they urge farmers to improve the quality of their stock? If it is worth the while of Armour & Co. to pay adver- tising rates to get that advice before the farmers, how much more is it worth to the farmers to heed that advice, and improve the quality of their stock! The bulk of that ‘aaat- tional $144,000 a year goes into the pockets of the farmers. It is only their commission, a small per cent for killing, dressing, packing and shipping, that Armour & Co. get- If Armour & Co. get but eight cents a pound for the common stuff, they can pay the farmers but six and a half or seven cents a pound for it; while they get eleven cents a pound for the ‘‘A No. 1’’ lot they can pay the farmers nine and a half or ten cents for it. It costs as much and takes as long to kill and pick a serub as it does a pure bred—and the expense of handling, (dressing, packing and shipping) is the same. If Armour & Co. get three cents a poufid more for the good stuff, they get their commission on a third more . returns; but the farmer gets the full third more. him no more to hatch and raise good stuff than it does to hatch and raise scrubs, and he will get three cents (probably thirty-three and a third per cent) more a pound for it. ‘The point could be better understood if one could walk through the cold storage room, where there are about 300,- - It costs . 000 pounds (a hundred and fifty tons!) of dressed poultry - and game, the good stuff carefully wrapped in paper and packed in boxes ready for shipping. Each box has stenciled . on it the kind .and quality of the contents; as, for example, ‘‘forty broiler chicks, one and one-half pounds;’’ ‘‘thirty roaster chicks, three and one-half’ pounds;’’ twenty-five fowls, four pounds;’’ etc. In one corner was a earload of lean, skinny things piled.up. ‘‘What are those?’’ we asked. ‘¢Those are soupers, Three or four’cents a pound for those.’’ said our guide. Now it costs as much to coop and send those lean ‘‘soupers’’ as it did to coop and ship the ‘‘A No. 1’’ Wyandottes—and it takes just as long to dress, pack and slip them. The farmer gets almost nothing for the ‘‘soupers’’ he sends in, and Armour & Co. get hardly enough for them te pay for handling. After seeing the great pile of ‘‘dung- hill soupers’’ we could well understand’ why Armour & Co. advise farmers to improve their stock!’’ So much for the advantages in thoroughbred stock when sold on the market. But the cream of the profits in the poultry business may be said to lie in selling standard-bred .stock as standard-bred stock to the many persons who want if and who willingly pay from twice to twenty times as much for high-class poultry as can be obtained in any mar- ket at any season of the year for what is called common poultry. It is truly remarkable what a widespread liking for fine poultry exists among mankind. It is confined to no one class. Merchants, professional men, bankers, and retired capitalists have this common fondness for poultry, as well as the farmer, the mechanic and the day laborer. Many thousands of people who do not ‘‘keep chickens’’ find them- selves wishing each winter and spring that they had ‘‘just a few hens.’’ Fresh eggs are ‘‘a joy forever.’’ Another remarkable thing is the great demand for standard-bred poultry. Persons who do not read poultry journals and have not looked into the subject can have no idea of this demand, or of the hundreds of thousands of dollars that exchange hands every year in payment for high- class, standard-bred poultry—the prices ranging from $1 to $100 per head. It is no longer.a surprising thing for a single fowl to sell for $50—in fact, 94-point Barred Plymouth Rocks can be sold by contract at that figure. Today intelligently scored 90-point Barred Plymouth Rock male birds, ten months old, are worth $5 each in hundred lots, and the de- mand for such specimens far exceeds the supply. Every year many thousands of dollars are sent from the great west, the northwest, the south, and from the far away Pacific Slope to the New England and Atlantic states for standard- bred poultry. Twenty-five dollars for a trio of fowls (a male and two females) has come to be an ordinary price. The great Mississippi Basin (the 500,000 square miles of territory drained by the Father of Waters and its tributar- ies) has now fairly wakened to the importance of poultry culture and in the years to come we are sure that many of the most noted and successful poultrymen of the world will be located between the Alleghanies and the Rockies, and fhe tig sums of money that are now sent ‘‘down east’’ will be kept at home, and the chicken money from west of the Rockies will be stopped half way across the continent. The mid-continental states today have many capable breeders _who are producing fowls second to none'in the country and who are establishing reputations to that effect, In this sec- tion are now located numerous poultry farms and poultry plants that are doing very well indeed. GETTING STARTED IN THE BUSINESS. Getting started in the faney or standard-bred poultry business is a comparatively easy matter. ‘This is so mainly . because so many people are interested in and fond of good ‘poultry. ‘To every person starting in this branch of the poultry business, his or her poultry yard should be the center of the universe. The next door neighbors will be the first customers. Friends and acquaintances will come to see the standard-bred flock; they will admire them and buy eggs. Be careful not to sell. too many eggs while your flock is small, for you will find it profitable to raise as many chicks yourself as possible. Raise 150 or 200 the first year from an average pen if you can, and you should have from $100 to $300 out of your first year’s work, the amount of profit de- pending on the breed you select and the quality of fowls you buy. Your first house should cost you very little. It is sel- dom that a shed, or a part of a shed, or one corner of a barn can not be spared for a pen of fowls. Partition off a section ten feet square; put an ordinary ‘window in the south or east side; line the inside walls with folded newspapers; white- wash thoroughly; put up roosts and nests; see that the floor 8 SUCCESS WITH POULTRY (a dirt floor preferred) is thoroughly dry, and the problem of a suitaole home for the first flock is solved. The expense is small. We have known several persons to invest $50 in standard-bred poultry and make the first year from $200 to $450, nothing being deducted for feed or labor. On the farm the feed is not missed. Where all the feed has to be bought, one dollar will keep each fowl one year. As for the labor, less than two hours a day is required on an average to care for the fowls, old and young. There are two especially good places in, this world to raise poultry—in a barnyard and around a kitchen door. The first pen of birds can be kept, almost, on the scraps that come from the average kitchen. If the owner keeps a horse, or a horse and cow, the fowls will thrive around the barn and kitchen at small expense for food. The first year a small advertisement inserted in a local newspaper, or in-a near-by poultry paper will enable you to dispose of your surplus stock. You will want to keep your old birds for two more years’ breeding, and also one or two pens of the best of the young stock, as you will wish to en- large your business from year to yedr. By following the simple and easy plan here briefly out- lined, any person of intelligence and industry can get a start in poultry culture that can be developed into a business that will pay .rom $1,000 to $5,000 a year. We maintain that the standard-bred poultry business is cnly getting fairly started, for the reason that more than ninety out of every one hundred flocks of poultry in this : broad country are mongrel stock, This will not be so, just s0 sure as poultry keepers once discover the actual advan- tages in raising none but pure-bred fowls. In nine cases out of ten the farmer much prefers pure-bred fowls, and he will buy them if an opportunity offers itself‘and the prices are low enough. As an example of this, let some farmer or far- mer’s wife or son or daughter, living in any neighborhood, become interested in standard-bred fowls and send to some breeder for stock or eggs.. As soon as a handsome flock is produced the neighbors show a keen interest and begin t0 buy. First, 50 cents a sitting is charged for eggs, then 75 cents, and finally $1 or more, as the demand increases. One dollar, and then $1.50, and finally $2 is charged for ‘‘roost- ers.’’? ‘That is the way it goes until some one breed of pure- bred chickens (Barred Plymouth Rocks, or Light Brahmas, or Brown Leghorns, for example) is found on a dozen or twenty farms in the one neighborhood. And the person who ‘keeps up’’ his stock by adding new blood each season, and who puts care and thought into his work, will be drawn on each year for ‘‘new blood’’ to help out his neighbors. In this way « regular and paying business is soon built up, a business that may be greatly extended by a person who has a business mind and is adapted to poultry raising. IN BEHALF OF HIGH-CLASS, PURE-BRED FOWLS. Today hundreds of men and women of widely different ages are breeding standard-bred poultry for profit. It is a pleasure always, and it should be profitable in every case, providing only that those who embark in the business start right and then display a proper amount of good sense and diligence. By starting right we mean that, at the beginning, the dime of investment should not be held so close to the eye ‘that the dollar of profit just beyond cannot be seen. Let us illustrate: The writer himself remembers well of writing to a veteran breeder of Light Brahmas, for two pens of high-grade breeders. We did not ask him how cheap a pen we could get, but what two high-scoring pens of six birds each would cost. He replied, $100, providing we took the two pens. We did so. We have never regretted that purchase. We have the breeder and good common serise to thank. for getting a right start. But to- continue the illustration. Those twelve birds cost us $100. That iooked like an outlandish sum to pay for « dozen ‘‘chickens.’? Our acquaintances all thought so, and not a few of them said so. But we were conceited enough to think that we knew what we were about. This is how we reasoned: ‘‘One hundred dollars is a good deal to pay for twelve fowls, but these birds are among the finest that long years of careful breeding ‘have been able to produce. By paying this sum I get the cream of ail those years of study and work. I expect to raise the first year three hundred young birds from these two péns. Every one of these three hundred young chicks will have in its veins the royal blood of its parents, and on its plumage will be stamped indelibly the evidence of its proud pedigree. At the end of the first year I will have, not twelve birds, but three hundred and twelve, and instead of being ordinary stock, the whole num- ber will be choice to extra choice—the legitimate result of long years of systematic breeding. It will cost me no more to raise the tnree hundred fine birds than it. would to raise three hundred of the veriest scrubs, but what a difference in the results!’ We were not disappointed. We sold a few eggs from those old birds at $4 per thirteen and got as high as $10 ‘each for some of the young cockerels. The first season’s young stock paid for the old birds three times over and left us’ thirty fine breeders in addition to the first eleven—one hen had died. When we bought the old birds they were pullets and yearling cocks, The cocks we used three years as breed- ers and the pullets four years. This gives the reader a glimpse into the profitableness of that first purchase of ours. We were fortunate enough to get started right, and as a result we are in the business today on a scale that was ‘not dreamed of when we wrote our first inquiry for stock. One hundred dollars was a big sum to put into twelve birds, but when this amount was distributed over the large number of fine birds we raised from them, the $100 dwindled down to a few cents per head and we reaped a harvest. We have made public this much of our private exper- ience because we know that it contains a valuable lesson for the. scores of others who stand today where we stood at the beginning. We wish to have them profit by our ex- perience. As long as fully 90 per cent of the poultry in this country of the dung-hill, mongrel variety, there is no fear of overdoing the business of raising and introducing pure-bred fowls, Finally, a man can be a man in the poultry business. The earth is beneath his feet, the open sky above his head. He can find a market anywhere for his produce, and need ask odds of no man. But by all means let him move for- ward cautiously. Let him ‘‘begin at the beginning’? and not expect to accomplish wonders in a fortnight. If there were no drawbacks to the business of poultry-raising, if there were no obstacles to overcome, if there were no dis- appointments in store for you—if all were smooth sailing, with a fat purse for your compass, there would be no money in the business, none whatever, for in that case every thoughtless, reckless, shiftless Tom, Dick and Harry who tried it would succeed and there would be nothing left as a reward for earnest effort, careful methods, and_perseverance, Editor. LEADING STANDARD BREEDS Articles on the Best and Most Popular Varieties of Poultry in Existence, by Expert Breeders— These Articles Not Only Set Forth the Characteristic of Each, but also Give Valuable Inside Information on Mating for Best Results—Do Not “Trust to Luck”—Follaw Good Advice -hundred dollars of any person’s money who is really interested in poultry for pleasure or profit, or both. We say this mainly to emphasize the high character of these special articles. . After a person has about made up his mind to engage in the poultry business, the question naturally arises, ‘‘With what breed or variety shall 1 begin?’’? What better answer could we furfiish than the following descriptive, illustrated articles by noted breeders each of whom makes a specialty of the variety he writes apout? These breeders are noted, not alone for the fine fowls they produce, but also for their integrity as bus- jmess men. 7 : f RTICLES under this chapter are alone worth one Permit us a few words of caution to the beginner: It’ is really better for you to start out with one variety, rather than with two or more. Learn thoroughly the one variety before you take up another. If-your location is good, and you have the capital and enterprise, we see no real objection to the adoption of other varieties or breeds, but be sure that you are an expert with each variety you carry before taking up a new one. Unlike Alexander the Great, you will not sit down and weep for more worlds to conquer—not if you go into the poultry business with a determination to surpass all others. ‘You will find plenty of big, brainy, whole-souled men and ‘women engaged in poultry culture.. To succeed to a high ‘degree in such company is no boy’s job. One of the first ‘things you.will be impressed and delighted with, is the ‘strong, helpful fraternal spirit existing among poultrymen. You will find in the business many a good man and woman who will treat you more than fairly, and who will ‘be to you a source of much encouragement. BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCKS A Clean-cut and Comprehensive Descriptive Article on .America’s Best Production in Poultry. The Barred Plymouth Rock has been termed America’s ‘idol ‘There is no other variety, the product of American skill in breeding, that we can put on the markets of the world with so much pride, and none other is received from our shores by foreign fanciers with so much favor. They need no booming. They stand acknowledged without an equal as the best general-purpose fowl bred. They thrive anywhere, and are rapid growers, and make plump, juicy broilers at eight to twelve weeks old. As a market fowl they have no successful rivals among the pure breeds. They are a great favorite with farmers and market poultrymen, ‘who breed this variety more extensively than all other pure breeds combined. As a fancier’s: fowl, the Plymouth Rock has reached a popularity in this country never before known. Utility and actual worth are the basis of this popularity, and make the Barred Plymouth Rock the bird of destiny, a breed come to stay. 5 There are many valuable breeds of poultry among our standard varieties. Some excel in beauty of plumage and graceful forms; others in massive size and majestic carriage, while still other bfeeds court popular favor by their records as egg producers. Nearly all breeds combine some of the good qualities in some degree. Bantams are handsome and good layers of eggs proportionate to the size of the breed. The smaller a bantam can be bred the better. They have. hosts of admirers, and as pets and a breed upon which to exercise a true fancier’s skill, they are valuable. The ornamental breeds are small in size, and fanciers of such do not find their ideal fowls in a large variety—a Cochin, Langshan or Brahma—while fanciers of these mas- sive birds can not see their ideal in a small fowl, be it gorgeous in feathers and as graceful in movement as a bil- lowy cloud. We are speaking of fanciers in general. There doubtless are some who really love several breeds, both great and small, handsome and plain; but the majority find their hearts’ idol in some particular variety although they may breed several varieties. » For a person who wants a business fowl, one that never deserfs its post nor shirks a duty, I believe the Barred Plymouth Rock fills the bill nearer than any other breed. They are always ready for business, rain or shine. They are medium in size, and if decently fed are always in good, meaty condition to kill after eight weeks old. Their early maturity adapts them especially for broiler use. The Plymouth Rocks are excellent ‘‘all the year around’? layers, and will lay as many eggs as any breed that ineu- bates and rears its young. They are the farmers’ favorite. In the smaller breeds we may get better layers, but -lose size. The larger birds give us no more, if as many eggs as the Plymouth Rocks, are later maturing and lack the sprightliness and elasticity of movement so admired in a medium large fowl. The Barred Plymouth Rock is nearly always the largest class at our American shows, and strictly choice specimens command a higher price than any other American breed, which prove their’ sterling merits. New breeds come and go, but the great qualities of the Barred Plymouth Rock become more and more indelible. As a practical fowl, suited to the wants and conditions of those who desire eggs, meat and feathers combined in one breed, they acknowledge no competition. MATING BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCKS A STUDY. The mating of Barred Plymouth Rocks to produce ex- hibition specimens is a study indeed. Opinions are, that ag 10 « tule the finest show cockerels are the result of the mating of a standard colored male with medium to medium dark females having deep barring even and straight across. The black bars in cockerels should be avoided, and in standard color the light bars should be clear and free from muddiness. The best pullets come from prime colored hens and a male lighter color than a show bird. Ancestral ba¢king must be considered in mating Plym- outh Rocks. The cockerel used for a pullet mating should be one whose dam’was a prime high-scoring hen. Such a male will get far finer pullets than one equal in individual quality but bred from an ordinary hen. in a cockerel mating. Only males should be used as breed- ers that are first-class and sired by first-class cockerels, the finer the cockerel the better. Chance birds are of little use as breeders, because they will not transmit their good points or repro- duce themselves in their progeny. Some fine chicks, both cockerels and pullets, can be bred from what is called the ‘‘single mat- ing’’—standard or exhibition colored females and a standard colored male. : The blue tinge to the plumage should be always kept ‘in mind, for this is one of the main attractions of the breed from a fan- cier’s standpoint. To preserve even this, however, a regnlar barring of the feathers should’ not be sacrificed. A crescent bar is not what is wanted, but straight distinct lines running well to the skin; and if the feathers are rightly placed the ‘‘ringlets’’ or ‘‘zebra stripes’’ will be clearly defined throughout the whole body.- These add to the beauty of a Plymouth Rock, and are much sought after by the brdeders of Amer- iea’s favorite fowl. It has been stated that. some breeders have been sacrificing regular _paralell barring—which on feathers evenly placed show the ringlets—to get light sur- taee color in females, which practice, if car- ried to extremes, is wholly wrong. All the features in color and plumage should, as far as possible, be preserved, and no one point be: reected to bring out another. The aim should be a harmonious whole to comply yith the written rules of the American Standard. A perfect individual feather of the Barred Plymouth is worth the study of an artist, ua and shows the beautiful in nature to a high degree. While the plumage of a Barred ‘Plymouth Rock, taken as a whole, would not rank as gorgeous, they have an every- day prosperous, well-to-do, business-like dress and appearance, which, with their size, carriage and well-rounded form, make them a handsome fowl and adapted alike to the wants of the marketman and farmer, or poultry fancier, and in breeding fine exhibition specimens the fancier can find in the Barred Plymouth Rock a wide and boundless field in which to display his greatest skill and genius. Cleanliness is one of the first essentials to success with poultry; not only must they have clean quarters, but the fowls must be kept free from vermin. Another essential is dry quarters, with perfect freedom from drafts during cold or wintry nights. Provide these, with enough range so that the fowls will be contented; furnish them mite plenty of fresh, pure water; feed a good variety of sound, wholesome food, including green food in summer, cut vege- tables in winter and cut green bone the year ’round—supply these and poultry will pay, and pay well. The same is true: SUCCESS WITH POULTRY HOW TO BREED EXHIBITION BARRED ROCKS. Detailed Instruction on Mating in Order to Produce Exr hiibtion Males and Females—The Double Mating System Advised. BY MR. A. C. HAWKINS, JUDGE. American fanciers than that of breeding high-class exhibiton Barred Plymouth Rocks. O PROBLEM has been more difficult to solve by the N The material that was used in producing this breed at the begin- ning was such that the different sexes have tended to follow in line from the first. The Dominique male was mated with the Black Java female, and the produce from the union was the original Fos ee af “i f {G arred Plymouth Rocks. Barred Plymouth Rock. The pullets came dark in color, many of them black like, the dam, while the males weré light in color like the sire. The tendency is the same today in many flocks where the owners have tried to. breed stand- ard birds of both sexes from the same mating. , The .eading breeders of tnis variety who have been most successful in producing high-scoring specimens have adopted the double mating system, that of making a special mating to produce exhibition males and another or different line. to produce show females. It is of this method of special matings that I shall treat particularly, as I believe the most. perfect specimens can be produced in this way. If the judges in different sections of the country did not differ so much in their ideal Barred Plymouth Rock, it would. be much easier to understand what I mean by an exhibition speci- men. I shall describe what I believe to be the ideal Barred Plymouth Rock. Many of the judges have become so thoroughly carried Bhs ee AE eee SUCCESS WITH POULTRY . 11 away with the under barring that they pay little attention to the beauty of the surface color, They begin to score from the skin and cut more severely for lack of under-color than for an inferior surface. The beauty of a fowl is ‘what we see, and while I am a believer in distinct, even-barring under the surface, I do not want the bars so strong and heavy underneath that they destroy the beautiful blue ou the surface, and it is a fact that most of the specimens ttt are very strong in under-color have a muddy black bar on the surface. It is also a fact that the very finest surface colored birds have not the strongest under-color. The two qualities do not breed together, naturally, or, in other words, those males that are most attractive in the breeding yard and exhibition pen may not have the same strength in the - under-barring as other specimens that are less attractive. Now, breeders, which will you have? What I want, and what any real fancier wants, is perfection in surface color and all the under-barring that nature will supply with it, and not what some judges I know require, namely, perfé- tion in under-barring and as good surface as we can get with it. LINE FOR MALE BREEDING. To produce fine males select the very best exhibitiort male to head the pen. He must be a bird of standard weight, or a little over, with broad, full breast; low, evenly. serrated comb; solid red lobes, bay eyes; broad, well curved back; nicely curved tail, carried rather low; and strong, rich yéllow legs set well apart. In color he should be a Fich, dark blue, even all over, and as closely barred as pos- sible to retain distinctness, with wings and tail distinctly barred throughout. Get all the under-color possible with such a surface, but do not let the surface suffer for the sake of heavy under-color. Mate with this male eight or ten females of the same line of blood, or, in other words, females whose sire and grand-sire were high-scoring exhibition males of the type and color 1 have described. Select females of standard size, with small, evenly serrated combs, bay eyes, blockly shape, broad backs, low, well-barred tails, and strong, yellow legs. In color these females should be several shades darker than exhibition color, the bars to be narrow, distinct and close together in all sections, with the under-color strong and distinet to the skin. ean get all the under-color in the male product that it is possible to have wih a brilliant, high colored surface. From such a mating as I have described, if bred in line, I can produce 95 per cent first-class breeding males with 25 per cent of sufficient merit for exhibition at the best shows. LINE FOR, FEMALE BREEDING. : In mating to produce high-class exhibition pullets select females of the best exhibition color, evenly and distinctly barred down to skin. Be particular that the neck is evenly and closely barred and not lighter in color than the back and body. Have the main tail feathers and tail coverts well tarred across the feather. Females are liable to fail in these sections unless care is exercised in the selection of the breeders. Have them standard weight or a little over, with ‘broad, full breasis, broad backs, gently inclining to the tail, which should not be carried too high. I prefer a slight cushion which gives the female a round, blockly appearance. The eomb should be small and evently serrated, eyes bay, and legs a rich yellow. Such a bird should be fit to show in any company. If these females have been bred in line for several generations the offspring will be more even in form and color. , , With these females place a male of medium light color With these strong colored females you. and of even shade from head to tail. He should be of stand- ard weight, have broad, deep, full breast; body not too short; back well curved to tail, which should be carried rather low. This male should have been bred in line from high-class exhibition females for several generations, so tHat his blood may have the same character as that of the fe- males with which he is mated. From such a mating ean be produced 95 per cent of first- class breeding females and 20 to 30 per cent of high scoring show specimens. The males from this mating will be very nearly toe color of the sire and are useful as breeding birds in mating for exhibition females, Save only those that are even in color for breeding purposes. , CARE OF THE BREEDING PEN. ‘ While it is necessary to have the best blood and quality in the breeding pen to secure good results, there are many other conditions that are equally as important in the pro- duction of the winning show bird. The breeding fowls should have a large grass range during the breeding season, so that they may have perfect health and vigor and that the eggs laid will contain strong -germs produced from nature "sg food. The exercise, insects and green food which nature supplies have much to do with the vigor and development of the coming chicks. Give them nature from the begin- ning until they are ready for the show room and breeding pen. Hatch and raise them and give the chicks the opportunity to roam for insects as soon as they have _ the strength and desire to do so. Give them an abundance of fresh air and room in their roosting quarters. Deprive them of nothing that will add to their thrift and comfort, and when the birds get into strong competition in-the show room you will be well paid for your extra care. They will lave the size, the color, the form, the sfyle and vigor, all of which should be combined in the winning show bird. : WHITH PLYMOUTH ROCKS. An Article Descriptive of the White Plymouth Rocks, a Variety That Many Claim Is ‘‘The Coming General Purpose Fowl’’—It Certainly Has No Superior. BY REV. JOHN HUGHES. “The White Plymouth Rock, said to be a descendant from sports of the Barred ‘Plymouth Rock, must be of the same form and weight, pure white in plumage, and ought to be, and in my opinion is, possessed of all the excellencies of his justly popular ancestor. The difference in standard requirements is in the color of plumage only. The Whites have the same yellow skin, beak and legs; the same bay eye and blockly build. They dress more neatly, showing no black pin-feathers when ready for the pot. Their meat, is just as desirable for the table. They lay just as many eggs, mature as early, and breed to standard requirements more easily. There is no need of two matings, one for cockerels and one for pullets, with the in- evitable lot of culls fit for the market only; no racking of brains with a lifetime’s experience to attain ‘‘the blue tinge in color, which should always be kept in mind,’’ with the feathers regularly barred with ‘‘straight, distinct lines, run- ning well to the skin,’’ that. the ‘‘ringlets’’ or ‘‘zebra stripes’’ may be clearly defined throughout the whole body.’? ‘“‘The mating of Barred Plymouth Rocks to produce exhibi- tion specimens is a study indeed,’’ and after all the thought and care bestowed on the subject the long sought for is not yet attained, for one of our judges says: ‘‘There is 12 SUCCESS WITH POULTRY something wrong with the mating of Barred Plymouth Rocks or there would be more of them to be had when purchasers are willing to pay any price to get them that the breeder - cares to name.’’ Nor are the authorities agreed as to whether there shall be two matings or one. And then when you have a specimen that will score righteously ninety-three to ninety-four points you have attained the limit of perfec- tion. We indeed see cockerels advertised as scoring ninety- six points; but are there any such scores certified to by Theo. Hewes, B. N. Emery, F. W. Hitchcock, F. H. Shellabargez, or any of our leading judges? The same care and skill will produce White Plymouth Rock cotkerels at ninety-five and ninety-six honest points, and very few specimens at less than ninety points. - Right here I make the claim that intelligent breeders of the White variety can produce a much larger per cent of stndard birds than many of the more popular varieties and, of course, with much less waste in culls. There is in the handicap of solid color varieties, when in competition with the parti- colored, a confession of this point. I would not be understood as inveighing against the Barred Rock. ‘‘I love not Caeser less, but Rome more.’’ I have bred them and can sympathize with the enthusiasm of the fan- cier who has produced a really fine specimen. It is indeed an attainment, and well may his pulse quicken at his anticipated triumph in the show room. But why should the amateur fool away his time and get badly left in the cold, when he ean with a reasonable outlay of time, care and expense, with due exercise of brain, be successru! and have more dollars in his pocket? If the Barred Plymouth Rock is the farmers’ fowl par excellence, so is the White as well, for the one has not one good quality not possessed by the other, and in some points the White ex- cel. The Whites are just as good rangers and -hustle equally well for a living, and when neg- lected will not run into a smutty unsightly plum- age, nor if crossed throw a lot of black poster- ity. (But they do run, if neglected, to an un- sightly yellow plumage, which is as undesirable as the smutty appearance in the Barred variety.) BREEDING THE WHITE PLYMOUTH ROCKS In breeding the White Plymouth Roeks ‘se the best specimens only—those which show best in all required points. Remember that in breeding for pure white feathers only, you are in danger of losing the bay eye and yellow skin and legs; or in breeding for the deep yellow in required sections you are indanger of running to creamy colored feathers, and the despised ‘ 80 ° & oy q n = n b 33 | 32) ee | a2 | ge] ee) es] 2 | § | ee] & | EB | ee BREEDS a3] 83) #21868) 83a} oh | ge & Sole 2 5 ge ao ed a | #S | ao Ro 3 3 gq a : ae o™ | 5% | H9 | oe | Bo | hs | oF a & bo a BH o-] tes Ba | Be | g8 | O8 | BH | sa | 2S 8 o | ae < a | ae ors sgt a th” 4 o BD oO < *) ——— placed in the fences to save steps. One next to the house is’ very handy, where two yards are used. If the housese are continuous, gates between the runs are a necessity and a la- bor-saver. If they have spring hinges all the better. Some- times larger yards are connected with these small runs, in which case it will be an advantage to place gates between tne large and small yards, as they will enable one better to change the fowls from pen to pen when necessary to do so for any purpose. This illustration shows a good, but cheap poultry house, 12x16 feet, one that can be built very reasonable. The height of the house in the back is 5 feet; the height in front, 7 feet, making a pitch of 2 feet, in the 12 foot drain, The A Roost and Droppings Board That Can Be Used to Gaod Advantage in Any House. We herewith give you a little description of the above roosts, This roost is 5x5 feet in size; see A, A, A, A. This is hinged to the ceiling, and during the day (in the winter time especially) is drawn up by means of a rope and pulley, out of the way, thus giving the fowls the use of all the floor space in the house. The droppings board B, B, is loose on the ground and can be set back against the wall, out of the way, after the droppings have been removed. C, C, C, represent the roosts which are made of 2x2 inch pieces (2x4’s ripped in two), the two upper corners being rounded off with a plane or other tool. Sifting the droppings board each day with road dust keeps in check all odors and causes the drop- pings to find their way readily into the box at the bottom. We like this scheme very much. In the winter time, when the fowls are confined, they need all the floor space they are likely to get. . Besides this arrangement is cheap and handy. Make the box B, B only a trifle wider than the blade of an ordinary shovel, and two moves or even one will clean it sut. The above roosts are adapted for any size or kind of a house and dan be lifted up out of the way during the day and give the entire house room for the poultry to roam, or scratch and is cheap and is a good design. MODEL BROODING HOUSES Several Styles of Practical Brood Houses Designed to Suit Poultry Plants of all Sizes—Informa- tion on the Handling of Chicks in These Houses. E STATE with emphasis that the broiler or mar- \X/ ket poultry business is not a delusion and a snare, as many seem inclined to believe; it is really a field of profitable and safe investment. The fact that men who are wholly unsuited to the poultry business in any. of its branches have rushed pell-mell into the ‘‘broiler business’’ and made total failures, is not proof that there is no money in broilers, We know that there is good money to be made in this branch of poultry raising; this fact has been clearly demonstrated on hundreds of successful chicken and duck farms. We firmly believe that the broiler business 1s destined to be one of the most profit- able in the list. There is something still to be learned (there always will be), but the demand exists, the appli- ances are at hand, and active brains are at work solving the problem of success. ' A sample of why some people fail to succeed in the broiler business came to our personal notice this fall. A Hungarian from Chicago visited Quincey to buy one hun- dred Barred Plymouth, Rock laying hens. He wanted us to agree to furnish him the hundred hens, and to contract that by the tenth day after they reached their Chicago quarters fifty of them would be laying. We told him that it would be impossible for us to fulfill such a contract. This man, five months before he came to Quincy, had no thought of going into’ the poultry business. At this time, however, he had $2,500 invested, and was rapidly getting afraid of his own shadow. The fact that hie thought that any one could furnish him with one hundred hens in the midst of the molting season, fifty of which would lay within ten days after being shipped 260 miles away, and being placed in strange quarters, in strange hands, showed how very little he knew about.the disposition and habits of poultry. Another man wrote us in August, saying that he pro- | posed to engage in the broiler business on a large seale; that he had ample capital and was confident of success, Then he asked if it would not be a good scheme to buy a few thousand fresh eggs at August prices and save them until the following January and February for. hatching purposes. In view of such cases as the above, and the well-known fact that in ordinary mercantile pursuits a large per cent of those who embark fail to succeed, it is not at all surprising that a good many of those who go hastily into the broiler business meet with failure. If a person has not a natural liking for poultry, if he is not pains-taking, economical and persistent, he will not succeed in this business, not*to a sat- isfactory extent. In this day and generation, when compe- tition is so great, a man to succeed in almost any business must stick to it closely, employ the best appliance sand watch every point. : We advise those who think of going into the broiler business, who have had little or no experience with poultry, to go slow; to buy one or two incubators ‘or brooders and learn how to use them with good results before buying a dozen. Spend a year in experimenting, if need be. This is straight, honest advice. There is no great hurry. You ean depend upon it that the demand for broilers will be as great next year as it is now. America will never consume less poultry and eggs than she is now consuming. We are sure ot this. Our people, in proportion to population, do no today consume one-half as much of these foods as do the European nations, Our population is rapidly increasing, our cities are growing at a surprising rate—more and more poultry and eggs will be demanded as the years go by. We insert here an extract from a report of our trip east, made during the summer of 1898, touching on the broiler business: ‘‘Mr, Thomas Allen, one of the proprietors of a large poultry farm, began as a boy years ago to buy com- mon poultry and eggs for market, going from farm house to farm house. He kept branching out until now he buys and ships to the Philadelphia and New York markets $150,000 to $175,000 worth of poultry and eggs each year. He ‘stated that probably his business in this line will reach $185,000 this year. He buys practically all of this amount within a radius of twelve miles of Glassboro, so it may be seen that this is quite a poultry raising section. He has men with wagons who make regular trips out through the country. On July 6, which is late in the season, Mr. Allen was paying ten cents per pound for young ducks and twenty-one and twenty-two cents per pound for spring chickens—the larger the better. ‘‘The duck market,’’ said he, ‘‘is being overstocked tnis year here in the east. The price for ducks is now lower than I have ever known it to be, while the de- mand for choice spring chickens at good prices has been away beyond the supply. There is good money in spring chickens at the present prices.’’ : ‘*Capons pay well,’’ continued Mr. Allen, ‘‘They bring twenty cents a pound from Thanksgiving to April 1, then range down to fifteen cents. I bought five hundred from one man this spring. The largest pair I have bought this season weighed twenty-eight pounds, and I paid the owner twenty cents per pound for them. Capons should be mar- keted when from seven to twelve months old. ‘ some fine grit and water. The latter should be so placed that_it will be always cool and so that the chicks are unable te get into it to wet and chill themselves or soil the water. I feed a mixtare of wheat, steel cut oats, millet and plenty of fine, sharp grit, five or six times a day for the first week, four or five the second week, and finally when about a month old, feed them only three times a day, and when six weeks to two months old om'y twice a day. Now begin to give theui coarse ground or cracked corn, dry, and they are able to stand any kind of sound food, as for instance, table scraps if not too sloppy or greasy, onion tops or other raw vegetables, chopped fine, so that they can eat them more easily. From now on they should do nicely if fed regularly a variety of sound food and given clean, dry quarters, free from vermin to roost in. Care should be exercised in the quantity of food and the manner in which it is given. It is better to scatter all food, so that the chicks will have to scratch and hunt for it and to feed only as much as they will eat up clean for if too much is given at once, they will gorge themselves, which tends to make them lazy and brings on bowel complaints; nor will they take enough exercise. I do not believe thdt chicks will drink too much pure, cool water, if it is kept before them all the time, although some authorities maintain that water should only be given young chicks right after they are fed. Neither old nor young fowls can stand dampness and probably a greater number of early chicks are lost on this account, rather than from laek of proper food and care. Would advise that chicks be kept in floored coops at night until the ground is thoroughly dry, or until they are at least a month old. Many people make the mistake of putting too many chicks together after they are weaned and as they grow so fast they are soon crowded, before one has time to realize some of them do not appear to do well, and thus many 2 good bird amounts to nothing either for the market or the show room. Chicks of all ages should not be run to- gether, if it is possible to avoid it, and all sizes should have plenty of shade and a grassy range, although they will do well in a bare yard if kept clean and judiciously supplied with green food of one kind or another. Lice of many kinds are the worst foes of the poultryman, and in this case prevention is worth more than an unlimited amount of cure. Clean the houses thoroughly each spring and fall, keep them clean between times. Whitewash the inside at least, and put coal oil on the roosts once a month or oftener. © There are many good liquid and powder vermin killers on the market, but the former must be used with great caution, if at all, on-chicks. There are eertainly several, successful ways of raising chicks, but they all contain 4s essentials, eens regularity, good judgment and perseverance, J. A. LELAND, Illinois, Life on the Reliable Poultry Farm, SUCCESS WITH POULTRY INCUBATOR POINTERS—THIRTY-T WO OF THEM. BY P, H. JACOBS. 1. Hatching chicks with an,incubator is a winter pursuit. 2. Then hen seldom sits in winter, hence she and the incubator do not conflict. 8. Hens that lay in winter can not: produce as fertile eggs at that time as in the spring, for the cold season pre- vents exercise, the hens become fat and the pullets are not ‘as fully matured, while the male, if he has a frosted comb, suffers from cold, or becomes too fat, and is unserviceable. 4. Do not use extra large eggs, or small eggs. Have all eggs of normal size, and of perfect shape. 5. Do not be afraid to watch your, incubator. It pays as well to keep awake at night te watch a hundred chicks hatch out as it does to keep awake to save a $5 calf from loss when it is dropped, and the chicks are worth more than the calf, Ava 6. No incubator has brains. It. will regulate, bit can not think. te tel 7. ‘When chicks die in the shell the chances are “gnat too much of a draft of air passed over them, When a hen is hatching she will fight if even a feather is lifted from her. She will not allow the slightest change of, temperature, and she will hatch as well in a dry place as in a moist location. Pure air is not injurious, but draughts of air cause rapid evaporation and loss of heat. 8 Dry, warm nests.in winter, and moist nests in sum- mer is an old proverb, hence the moisture depends on the season. Less is required in the incubator in winter. 9. As the chicks progress in the eggs they give off heat, hence be careful of the lamp, hot weather, or whatever the source of heat may be. 10. Too much moisture covers the eggs and excludes the air from the chicks within the eggs. 11. No currents of air can pass through an incubator without a plentiful supply of moisture, but in incubators that have no currents but little moisture is needed. 12. Do not take out the chicks until you believe all are hatched. Leave the chicks in the incubator. If you take them out the heat will suddenly drop, and you will also let in the cold air on the eggs. Never disturb the eggs when chicks are hatching. Better lose a chick or two by trampling than all. 13. Test your incubator with moisture, no moisture, plenty of air, and air shut off, as each incubator may differ from the others. 14. Eggs will be aired sufficiently when they are turned. It is of no consequence to cool them. — 15. If the chicks do not hatch out by the twenty-first day your heat was too low. 16. ‘If the chicks begin to hatch on the eighteenth day your heat was rather high. 17. Do not put eggs in at different periods during the hatch, and do not hatch ducklings and chicks together. 18. The same rules apply to the eggs of hens, ducks, turkeys and guineas, as regard heat and moisture, 19. Never sprinkle eggs. It lowers the heat instantly (due to rapid evaporation), and sometimes kills the chicks in the shells. : 20. 1f the incubator shows moisture on the glass do not open the egg drawer until it is dry. Cold air and dampness kill the cnicks, the heat being lowered by rapid evap- oration, 21, The reason the hen that steals her nest hatches so well is because you do not give her all sorts of eggs, such as large eggs, smail eggs, and eggs from old hens and imma- ture pullets such as you put in the incubator. 22. Send away the curious visitor just when your eggs are hatching. 23. Keep the incubator in a place of moderate tempera- ture. A window on one side will make that side cooler than the other. 7 24. Do not expect to hatch without work. The man ‘who expects to get chicks by trusting to the regulator to keep the heat regular does not deserve success. Work is required for other stock that need winter care, and the artificial hen is no exception, 25. Begin with one incubator, and learn, before you try more than one. — 26. No matter how much you read, experience will be the best teacher, 27. Have your incubator warm before you put in the eggs. 28. A child can not manage an incubator, all claims to tae contrary notwithstanding. Incubators are not a Do not turn over a man’s work to a boy. 29. Let the bulb of the thermometer touch a fertile egg. 30. In winter the hen will not hatch over one-half of her eggs nor raise over one-half of her chicks, The incuba- tor and brooder, if skilfully managed, will do better than this. 31. In a majority of cases the failure is due to the eggs'and not the incubator. 32. Above all, follow the directions you get with your incubator. Do not try any of your ‘‘ideas,’’ as. it may be costly experience. P. H. JACOBS. FEEDING AND FORCING BROILERS. Second Article by Mr. Arthur G. Duston—The Facts He Presents Have Cost Him Many Dollars in the School of Experience. We will say that we have decided on the variety that we will run; our eggs are as fresh as possible and of uni- form size; we have put them into a well-made incubator and with proper care have gotten out a good hatch which came along promptly, so that the morning of the twenty-second day we find the chicks nicely dried off. We now get our warmed, cloth-lined- basket, with a heavy cover or shawl to prevent them getting chilled. Right here I want to say, I believe more chicks ‘‘pass out,’’? as our Chirstian science brethren would say, to the’ land whence no wanderer returns, from getting chilled in moving them from a warm, moist incubator on a cold day into the brooder than most folks are aware of, and those lit- tle fellows you had such fond hopes of, but lost last winter with what you called bowel trouble or diarrhoea, was really chilled in being changed from ‘their birthplace to their tem- porary home. Well, we have got them safely, we hope, into the brood- 66 SUCCESS WITH POULTRY er, which has been brought up to the temperature of the in- cubator. Of course we have placed our board in slides about a foot away from and in front of the hover, so that the babies can not get out in the long pen and. not be able to find: the way back and thus get chilled. Just bear in mind for the first week that to keep them warm is more essential than the kind of food. The first day of their lives in a brooder, has almost passed and they have not eaten anything, Night has begun to come on and it is time to feed the hens, but, let us rst scatter down for the chickens'a liberal supply of rolled oats, the white flakes of wnich will instantly attract them, and they are left to themselves. In the evening, as we fix the fire preparatory to locking up’for the night, we look at them and are pleased to find them scattered all over the hover: ‘bottom and their contented little ‘‘peep’’ is. the last sound to fill Our ears as we go out, and our mind is already filled with visions of juicy broilers and big breasted roasters and the perquisites thereunto attached. The next morning as we turn out at daylight to see our orphans we find them calling for breakfast. We touch up the fire and then a feed of rolled oats is given them with a dish of warmed skimmed: milk. We use an old fruit can for this purpose with a notch cut in the edge. P&rtially filled with the milk and inverted into a saucer, this makes an ele- gant fountain for small chicks. A saucer not much larger than the can is best, then the chicks will not get ‘‘stuck up.’’ The milk on the down will stick them together as bad as paste would. Some of the little fellows that would eat will drink, so you save them along until they will eat. That you will save more chicks by giving them warmed skimmed milk than by any system of izeding grain, is my way of thinking. We next powder some charcoal in a dry bone or shell mill and this is put into a dish and set in for the chicks to eat. We have found this an excellent regulator for very young chicks, as well as older birds. We are now going to feed every two hours until our young charges are turned over to the butcher. Let it be done by the clock; you will then be more regular and can more easily even up the day. For the first week you are limited to rolled oats, millet seed (which is a semi-green food) and cracked corn, run through a mill to make it fine enough, then sifted to save the meal, which, of course, is wasted by throwing it on the ground. We have kept our milk before them all the time and have carefully washed the dishes twice a day, noon and night, as nothing gets any more filthy than do ‘these dishes if left uncleaned, the fat of the milk, dirt and drop- pings all adding their mite to make it so, more especially as the chicks get older. Some think skimmed milk expensive to feed, but after trying it you will be convinced that the in- creased growth that comes from feeding it, gives you a good profit on it, and this is what we should always think of when weighing the cost of food. The real question is, can I get enough quicker growth by using it and give me a profit on it? For feeding choice ‘‘fancy’’ chicks I have heard it con-- tended that whole milk was cheap to feed. I have been able to buy all the skimmed milk I want for five cents a can, eight and one-half quarts to a can, and I have used as high as twenty-six cans a day for broilers and roasters. As we have put into each hover about one hundred chicks, we must see that the sand is carefully seraped off the top as often as necessary, probably twice the first ‘week, which will be increased each week until about the third, then we begin to clean them regularly every morning. Wo run the wheelbarrow into the walk and lift the hover, which is hinged against the partition so it is easy to get at. We _ take a small dust pan, or, if you prefer, make a scraper, by driving nails through a stick, something like a rake, only closer together. Then scrape or rake off the top, going quickly from one to another. For the first week we keep the board in the slides just forward of-the hover, as stated before. Now the second week we will remove it and keep an eye on the chicks to see that they do not get lost or get chilled by staying away from the fire too long. For this week we will feed about the same, only perhaps it will be well to try them on a little mash made up of one- third corn meal and two-thirds wheat bran, seasoned with salt and pepper, just the same as though we were to eat it ourselves. Mix well and add boiling water. Don’t put in enough to make it sloppy. Allow it to stand a short time, then feed. Not much will be eaten, but they will get so be- fore the end of the week that they will look for it, as you feed your soft and hard grains alternately. The third week we always settle down to our regular routine, to be continued until about ready to market. Dur- ing the second week we. have cracked some wheat in our mill, so havé had that for an extra dish and a change, giving corn as a last feed generally. A’ good many feed cut or pin- head oat meal to little chicks. This we. have found to be.a trifle pasty or gummy, and have dropped it, as more will get stuck up around the vent when this is fed than when not. There is one thing that is absolutely imperative—that is, to get your chicks out on the ground. If it is bright and ‘warm put them out for a few minutes when a week old. Do not let them stand ‘‘humped’’ up and shiver, but make them hustle around, by driving or by feeding a handful of millet iseed. After the second week they must go out every day un-° less it storms, no matter if it is zero weather. After you have tried it you will see how essential it is, for you can not keep them on their legs under such high feed in any other way. : DUTIES OF THE THIRD WEEK. As we enter upon the duties of the third week we will now get our routine started and will see the chicks push along for the next five weeks, at which time we hope to see‘ two-pound. birds ready for the market, and get sight of the returns for our labor. The first’ thing in the morning is a feed of hard grain; then comes a feed.of chopped raw pota- toes. As the chopping knife and tray were too slow, we got a mince meat chopper, had -a new dise made with larger holes, about three-eighths of an inch in diameter, and ran: the potatoes through that, catching in a pan the first and last to come out as it is nothing but water. The other is the pulp. Now take their feed dish and give cach pen all they will eat. A little later we throw in a little cabbage, cut in strips, which they will seize and chase each other around for until it is all eaten. This constitutes all the green food they have, except once in awhile we may substitute onions in place of cahbage. We have gotten our mash made for the day, and as 9 o clock has come we will feed our first feed of it for the day, only feeding what they will eat quickly. We feed on tin plates, about fourteen inches in diameter and a quarter of an inch deep, with a wide fold at the top. These can be readily cleaned preparatory to another feed by scraping with the feeding shove], which is a small shovel about four inches across, made of heavy sheet iren and a white iron handle. We have a pan to put the leavings in, if any. They go into the swill for the pigs. At 11 o’clock another mash, then the SUCCESS WITH POULTRY 67 dishes are picked up, taken into the kitchen or cook room and washed. ; Again at 1 and 3 o’clock we feed the mash and if we have used good judgment we have had a hungry mob each feeding. If we have been liberal, we find they have left something each time and are not ready for their feed. When this is so just scant them until they clean up each time and do it quickly, taking care you have enough for all. You will find the number of plates will have to be increased, as the chicks increase in size, in order that each may have a chance. At 5 o’clock or before dark throw down a liberal feed of cracked corn. We follow this bill of fare for about four weeks. As we have crowded the chicks pretty well, by putting one hundred in a pen we must take extra precautions against filth. At about four weeks of age a day’s droppings is considerable on the floor of the pen so the floor is now raked over each day and the collections wheeled out. For this we must use a loop toothed rake. We have by this time found our fountains small and eas- ily tipped over by the chicks, so we have adopted new ones holding nearly two quarts, made of galvanized i1on and cone-shaped on top, to keep the youngsters from roosting on them, and instead of the saucer we use 4 small deep agate pan, only a trifle larger than the fount. This we find to be very satisfactory as the chicks can not put their feet in it. CHICKS NOW SIX TO EIGHT WEEKS OLD. To come back to the six to eight-weeks old chicks. We must now think of finishing them off. We examine them, weigh a few, calculate how much flesh can be made on them in about ten days, for as broilers Boston has no use for any- thing over four pounds to the pair. -We have fed so much bran that as we lay back the feathers on the breast we say, ‘‘They ought to have more color.’’ How can we get it? We cast about for a way to get this. We know corn will do it, but we lose time if we drop off from soft feed to hard. The chicks won’t grow as fast and we must turn them off as soon as possible to get the most profit from them. So we put into the mash all'the cotton seed meal we can stir in and not make it ‘‘salvy’’ or ‘‘puddingy,’’ as we call it. With a lit- tle treacle added we have accgmplished the result. We now have a fine yellow skin if we have not foolishly chosen a blue blooded carcass, but any yellow-legged variety will respond to the treatment. I would caution you against trying to feed this for too long a time, say more than two weeks, as the chicks will get cloyed by it and you cannot hold their flesh, to say nothing of making any, unless you keep their appetites ‘‘up to the clip.’’ This being such a high feed, it seems to become nauseous to them. One would find it difficult to keep them on their legs if it were fed from the first. We have now ‘‘forced’’ the birds for eight weeks and have obtained what we set out for, viz: Two-pound broilers at eight weeks. ‘This has been successfully accomplished on our farm with White Wyandottes. We have not done quite as well with any other variety. As I stated in my last paper, they will stand on their legs where Plymoyth Rocks would be rolling on their sides with the same feed. We put up two pens of 110 each, and at eight weeks they weighed two pounds each, and a portion two and one-quarter pounds each under this system of feeding ‘and almost the same treatment. By continuing the regular feed we have made five and five-eights-pound roasters at fifteen weeks old. One thing more before closing: If you ship your poul- try to market alive, and it travels twenty to thirty miles on the railroad, feed the night before, not to heavy, but some, as the birds will empty themselves in the night and on the journey. Give them all the water they will drink before they start on their funeral ride. You will thus save a por- tion of your shrinkage to nobody’s injury, but to their gain, I believe, as you help retain the juiciness of the flesh. Some of these hints have been gained in the expensive School of experience, but if any earnest, honest poultryman can get anything of, assistance from them he is welcome. As one word of caution, do not attempt to raise your breed- ing females under such hot-house methods, because you will sacrifice your size through early maturity, as after a period of forcing as given above it is no uncommon thing for pullets to lay at sixteen weeks, and we all know that is enough to stop growth. You may start your breeders in the brooder, holding off forcing fods, but get them out as quickly as possible. : The summing xp of the discussion is, breed, feed and care. Let us not disdain to use the breed because it may be bred to ‘‘fancy points,’’ as the faney has given us our best and most practical varieties, and the nearer a typical bird we have, of almost any breed, the better carcass we have. CARE OF BROODER CHICKS The Brooder Chick from Egg to Maturity— Ventilation, Moisture, Temperature and Floor Space Discussed by Breeders who Know the Requirements of Brooder Chicks—Brooding Houses and Coops—Foods and Feeding—General Advice on Management. (This symposium (the third on the Care of Young Fowls) is devoted to brooder chicks exclusively, To hatch chicks in an incubator is comparatively easy, and may he done by a novice, but to raise chicks after they are removed to the brooder requires a knowledge which does not stop at a thorough understanding of brooder operation.. The movements and appearance of the chicks inform an experi- enced observer what is necessary for their well-being. fortable and always on the jump for food. To obtain the greatest growth in the shortest time, chicks must be healthy, com- Improper conditions result in death. It is from men who are competent to raise brooder chicks with the lowest possible mortality that we have obtained the following useful information for our readers.—Widitor.) Advantages of Brooder Raised Chicks—Rations and Care. One of the most necessary appliances connected with the poultry industry is an A No. 1 brooder, even though a hatcher is not in use. It is an easy matter to find a number of sitting hens, and by placing in the brooder the chicks hatched by them, you avoid feeding the chick’s food to the hens, and they will sqon begin laying. The chicks can be ‘cared for and reared safely, no matter what weather pre- vails outside the brooder. They are free from vermin and if the broder is kept clean they will not be troubled with lice. There is no need of losing a chick if properly cared for. They will be much more tame and easier handled than those reared by hens. ‘ For from fifty to seventy-five chicks a run of twenty . 68 SUCCESS WiTH POULTRY feet is sufficient for one or two weeks, after which the chicks should be placed in a larger netbaun or allowed to run at large. I believe in plenty of range, as chicks confined 10, small inclosures very seldom develop well, but often do de-' velop off colored feathers in plumage, which nature provides against if they have large range. The run may be made of boards twelve inches high, a portion of which may be cov- ered with cheese cloth, This will afford protection from wind and storms, also from the sun. Chicks when first out of the shell can have no better food than bread for two or three days, then a mixture of cornmeal and bran (half and half in bulk), to which add a small quantity of bone meal, about one part to eight of the mixture of meal and bran. Wet ‘this with water and it makes an excellent food for morning and noon. At night good, clean wheat and cracked corn, with oat flakes or hulled oats is unsurpassed. Milk is very beneficial if placed where fowls or chicks can drink it, but should not be mixed with the food. A good brooder, an abundance of the right kind of food, coupled with a fair amount of common sense, will bring . good results. W. F. BRACE, New York. Lessons from Nature—Interesting Experiments Aunty the: Food Supply. While we have most of our chicks raised with hens on farms, we still raise some in brooders. We allow the chicks to remain in the incubator from ten to twelve hours after they are all hatched; then we put them into a wramed brooder with the floor covered two inches thick with wheat bran. After they have been in the brooder two days we seatter a little millet seed in the bran, but not much for a week. This season we have used ‘‘Fidelity’Chick Feed’’ al- ternately with millet and have had success. When a few weeks old we feed cracked corn and whole wheat, in fact anything the chicks will eat, as great a variety as possible, and not too much at a time, keeping them in a good appetite all the time, and they will take plenty of exercise. It is well to have plenty of chaff or cut straw, hayseed or anything of that kind to scatter their green food in to make them work, not forgetting grit and. green food. Use only a brooder so constructed that the chicks can get any degree of heat they want, and one that allows the chicks to get away as far from the heat as they want to, and they will care of themselves. One thing in raising brooder chicks seems to us to be of more importance than anything else, and that is the feed- ing of the chick the first week of its existence. When a chick is hatched nature has supplied it with enough food so it can easily do without eating or drinking for a week or over. out a doubt. A few years ago we had a hen that would fly through a ventilator and get above a board ceiling in one of our chicken houses; there she layed a lot of eggs and hatched a dozen of chicks. Judging from the looks of the chicks when we first found them they-were about ten days old, and dur- ing that time they had neither food or water. A stronger lot of chicks I never saw and they were as wild as deer. In 1890 we took two hens with fifteen chicks each and put them into a cornfield a quarter of a mile from our build- ings and left them to hunt their living as best as they could. The chicks had no water or fod, except what the hen found for them. After they were ten days old we went to see them and note results. We found the hens had not been ten yards from the place we put them, and such a sleek, healthy and with dry feed scattered through it. We will give one instance that will prove this with-: vigorous lot of chicks we never saw. Being satisfied with results so far, we left them another week, but when we went to see them we only found a few feathers from the hens, as a pack of dogs had put a stop to our experiments, but we learned this one fact, that very little, of any food should be given to newly hatched chicks for the first three or four days at least, and’we believe there are more chicks killed by over- feeding in the first ten days of their lives than at any other time. This hardly ever affects the chicks until about the seventh day, when they get diarrhoea and stand around with full crops and soon die from indigestion, caused by ‘strong food and feeding. We all know what a hen that steals her nest does after her chicks are hatched. She does nothing the first few days but brood her chicks, then after they are three or four days old she will commence to seratch for them, but very little do they get for the first ten days. They se- cure a few small seeds at a time; and as they grow, and their digesting organs get strength they find more food, and most of the chicks live and grow to maturity; they develop very fast, too. Let us watch the old hen and learn lessons. that will help us much in raising chicks with brooders. *We think exercise is of great importance and if one is so situated as to allow the chicks a good run it will be found very beneficial. If the room is limited use plenty of litter Avoid sloppy food. Re- member dry food is nature’s food, and always remember, too, that little food is far better ‘hank too much, AUG. D. ARNOLD, Pennsylvania. On Brooders and Brooding. Four years of experience with artificial incubating and brooding has settled definitely in my mind the fact. that with it we can raise ‘‘better poultry and more of it.’? I mean by this, that we can not only raise a larger quantity, but a better quality. This is from the standpoint of a fancier as well.as a marketman. In my hands brooder raised chicks are superior in growth and development, shape and plumage to those raised by hens. There are many reasons why this should be so, and these will be apparent to the unprejudiced poultrymeén. My exhibition specimens have invariably been brooder. raised. : If I could have but one I wouid prefer a brooder to an incubator. I do not think an incubator superior to a hen for hatching, but I do think a brooder superior to her for raising chicks. To be successful the floor of a brooder should be built as near the ground as posible, should be capable of generating sufficient heat, and should have a regulator that will maintain the correct temperature. I believe a regulator on a brooder in which you expect to place newly hatched chicks is as important as that on an ineubator. The heat should come from above, with just sufficient bottom heat to keep the floor dry. The temperature under the hover should be ninety degrees Fahrenheit for the first two weeks, with a gradual lowering from that on. Overheating is just” as injurious and will cause bowel trouble just as quickly as will a chilly atmosphere, Let me caution readers against buying cheap brooders, for they prove very expensive in the end. Out of the many brooders made and advertised, there should be no trouble to select a good one. Buy the best or none at all. I have absolutely no use for an outdoor brsoder, unless it is to be used indoors, and then I préfer an indor brooder. Imagine shutting up fifty to two hundred chicks in a brooder three by four feet for two whole days when the weather is stormy, and expecting them to do well. SUCCESS WITH POULTRY 69 I have made small houses, six by eight feet, with a win- dow and door in front.’ In a corner of this” house I place the brooder, and after the chicks are three days old I give them ' the run of the house. On: pleasant days the door to this house is left open and the chicks are given the run of the yard. In stormy weather they are kept in the house. On the floor of this house is four to six inches of chaff and into this the food is placed. At the end of gight or ten weeks the brooders are removed and roosts are put in their place. The young are left here until placed in winter quarters. For food for the first four weeks I use bread soaked in milk, squeezed dry as possible, millet seed, cracked wheat, and oat groats. After the fourth week cut green bone is fed twice a week in place of bread and milk, and cracked corn alone for night food. Chick grit, granulated bone and. dry bran is kept before them at all times. Be careful and not overfeed. Small chicks will commence to scratch as soon 4s hungry, and they should be kept at it. It is needless to say attention to details is necessary to success. Clean the brooder frequently and keep the sur- roundings in a sanitary coudition. Fresh, pure water should be kept before them. Get the chicks out on the ground as soon as possible if but for a few minutes every day. ‘ With me the brooder chicks and their care is a source of pleasure, and their attention means a friendship between us which is noticeable when they become adult fowls. DR. O. P. BENNETT, Illinois. The Temperature of the Brooder Is of First Importance. We have been raising chicks since 1893 and with the exception of the first year we have raised nearly all of them in brooders. We have at times raised nearly every- chick put into them, and again,-we have lost every solitary one, with many varied and interesting experiences between the two extremes, but the method with which we have had the best success is that which we here describe. - When the chicks are hatched we have the brooders all ready and warmed to a temperature of ninety degrees, which we consider nearly a perfect temperature (that is ninety de- grees in the coolest part of the hover and not exceeding one hundred degrees in the warmest). We place the chicks un- der the hover.and for one week keen the temperature at, or as near ninety degrees as it is possible to keep it. ‘The sec- ond week, if all has gone well, we reduce the temperature to eighty degrees, and after the second week and for as long as the chicks need the heat in a brooder we run it at seventy to eighty degrees, or at whatever temperature the chicks seem to be contented. We consider the heating part of this brood- er business of more importance than the method of feeding, as too much or too little heat will wipe out a whole brood- erful of chicks before one is aware anything has gone wrong. Another thing—in the night when there is a change in the weather from one extreme to the other, one will, many a time, save a bunch of chicks by going out and changing the lamp flame, either up or down, as may be necessary. No: matter if you are sleepy, if you wish to raise the greatest number of chicks, you must attend to this duty. As to feeding, we have wheat, oats, and corn, equal parts of each ground together, and, with one-third its bulk in bran mixed with water to a stiff mass, a little soda added, and sometimes two or three eggs to a gallon of the food. This we put in a deep pan and bake thoroughly for two hours in'a good hot oven. — with a little more dry bran added for the first four days and feed three times a day just what they will eat up clean. We use this food crumbled fine’ At noon, after the fifth day, we feed a little wheat, cracked corn and millet seed until they can eat eracked wheat, oats and corn, when we feed equal parts of wheat and oats, but only half as much corn. After the first week we add a small quantity of green cut bone every week day in the evening food. When they are five weeks old we feed whole grain morning and noon and soft food (not cooked) and green bone at night, until they are nearly matured, when we omit’ the noon feed entirely. We keep them in their regular brooders until they can do without the heat; then they are changed to a cold brooder for a week or ten days, and from there to our, open front roosting coops. They remain in these coops until they be- come troublesome to the smaller ones, when we put the first hatched lot in our large pens, separating the males and fe- males, We give our young chicks unlimited’ tange of an old orchard, except during the first two weeks, when we use a small pen ten feet square around each brooder for fifty ehicks. We never ‘put more than that number in one brooder. For our early chicks, for green food, we use a small amount of elover meal in their food. Young chicks should be placed on the ground just as early as possible after the second or third day. The little chicks in cool weather should be ‘placed in a sunny spot any in a eeeony hot weather kept in the shade. CLARK & TROLL, Ohio. Keep the Brooder Clean—What to Feed—Hens Bring Lice. Yes, I have had some experience raising chicks with brooders. As to the number of chicks to a brooder, I have yet to fini one that would accommodate more than thirty o1 forty chicks for me. There is much danger of over-crowd- ing where more than forty are placed in the same brooder. Special care is needed to keep the chicks very clean, and the fresher and cleaner the surroundings of the chicks the less lidble one is to lose them. In regard to feeding—I like pin-head oatmeal or rolled oats for the first four or five weeks, with a change to bread and milk or Spratt’s patent chick food. An excellent change also and one that produces growth is fine cut green bone. As to the quantity, I give them what they will eat ap clean. I would much rather keep them a little hungry than have them stuffed with food. I feed about five times a. day the first week; after that four times a day till they are nearly full grown. Cracked corn, wheat, buckwheat, ground oats and. green cut bone is what I give them from six weeks old upwards. I keep plenty grit before them, also plenty of fresh water in clean foun- tains or dishes. fen When weather permits I allow them to.run at ‘will, giv- ing them practically free range. I have five acres devoted exclusively to White Wyandottes and raise about two hun- dred chicks on the home place. I farm out extra ones on different farms. I find that they do much better in small numbers. It is not how many I try to raise, but how many good ones. I enclose films, from which to produce photos. Select any that will help you to explain. Take notice that some are of hens and their broods. I raise some by nature’s. way, but have to be on the alert for fear of lice. Some films will show chicks, when six or seven weeks old, feeding in front of their roosting coops, which are used after wean- ing time. C. 8S. WETMORE, New York. 70 SUCCESS Five Dollars an Hour Earned by Raising 400 Brooder Chicks. Your request of June 13th was duly received and found us with some twenty thousand ducklings on hand and two hundred tons of hay ready for the knife. This work supple- mented with strawberries and weeds, leaves us, as you well know, but little time for literary work of any kind, but will try to contribute my mite to the general fund. I had a little experience a few years ago, which I think will illustrate the possibilities of chicken growing on a lim- ited area and may interest and benefit some of your readers. During the latter part of March I got out a hatch of Light Brahma chicks, four hundred and one in number. I kept them in the brooder house for a few days, then, being short of room, put them outside in two outdoor brooders, 1n- closing them in a little space of six square rods, inside a wire fence one foot high. I think I have never suffered so Brooder Chicks and SBrooder. small a mortality in all my experience with chicks, losing but three of the whole number and one of those killed by a dog. Those chicks commenced growing from the ‘first and in three weeks’ time began to hop over the wire, I hastily placed a four-foot wire around the pen intending to move them to different quarters when convenient, but they made such a remarkable growth and seemed so healthy, I thought I would see how long they could be kept growing in fhat limited space. I attended them myself. The yard was swept every day with scrupulous.care and the excrements removed. The birds were fed systematically and always kept a little hungry. They never left that yard till they went to market, then weighing from five to six pounds each, dressed, and- there was not « cull in the lot. Their plumage was glossy and fine. The’ birds were gentle and could be taken up at will. When a little over four months old and about ready for market, I notified Mr. Hunter, then of Farm Poultry, that I had a show for him. He came out the next day and when he saw those chicks he would not believe that they had been grown in that yard, as there appeared to be but little more than standing room for them. He asked my men if I was not hoaxing with him, and he finally acknowledged that they were the finest lot of chicks he ever saw together. They were fed four times per day till a month old, after that three times. They were started in with bread crumbs and hard boiled eggs chopped fine. One part egg to five parts crumbs and plenty of grit mixed in. After three days their food was equal quantities of wheat bran and cornmeal with a little fine beef scraps, and I gave them one feed each day of rolled oats and cracked corn. As they grew older they had a bucket of clotted milk each day, boiled potatoes and green grass. Toward the last, one feed of whole corn and over one-half a bushel of finely cut cornfodder per day. WITH POULTRY In fact nothing came amiss; they greedily devoured every- thing I gave them and appeared to havé every confidence in my judgment. They brought thirty cents per pound in Bos- ton market, aggregating nearly six hundred dollars, thus paying me for all food consumed and nearly five dollars an hour for all time in caring for them and had they been hatched two weeks earlier they would have brought thirty- five cents per pound. With one exception, this was my most successful experience with chickens. ‘ JAMES RANKIN, Massachusetts. Raising Chicks in Brooders, We use both indoor piped sectional and outdoor hot air brooders. To ‘begin with, our chicks are well hatched and come out strong, plump and active. Very early in the sea- son, when 'the weather is still cold and frosty and no grass. growing, we use the indoor brooders. These machines are set up, thoroughly warmed and tested before the chicks are put in. The brooder floors are sanded and the house floor covered with chaff or cut straw. During the first few weeks we keep the hovers very warm and if the chicks are too warm they crawl out where it is cooler. At night in particu- lar we are careful to have a good surplus of heat, so that the chicks lie partly outside the hovers, as from midnight to morning the, temperature of the room will lower consiaer- ably, so the chicks will go under the hover and be very com- fortable. Were it not for this surplus of heat when left at night the chicks might be chilled before morning and then bowel trouble would make its appearance and many chicks die. Each room is sixteen by twenty feet and not unusually over four hundred chicks to each brooder. The first few days the chicks are fed granulated oat meal only, with clean water (not too cold) for drink, and some. good, saarp grit before them constantly. The first week we feed four times daily and but little at a meal. We then begin gradually working them on to a diet of cake, varied with cracked wheat. The cake is made of ground oats (hulls sifted out), cornmeal and best coarse wheat bran, about equal parts by bulk, with a very little high grade beef seraps mixed in while dry. The mixture is then moistened with some milk or buttermilk salted as for the table, leav- ened with soda, and baked. The baking tins should not be quite full, as when the bread is done we turn it upside down on a board so the crust will be softened by the steam. As the chicks grow older the amount of beef scraps is gradually increased. This feeding goes on until the chicks are five to six weeks old, when a warm mash of about the same material as the cake is fed onee a day, and whole wheat and cracked corn twice. This mash is moistened with warm water with a little salt dissolved. Just as soon as we can get fresh clover or grass 1t is fed daily, cut in one-eighth-inch lengths. Chard, lettuce, beet tops or any such green stuff is also used. The hard grains are fed in the litter to induce exercise after the chicks are older and strong enough to work it out. When the chicks are ten days to two weeks old and the. weather is suitable they are let out in yards about fifty by two hundred feet in size, care being taken that they can find their way to the house when stormy. When they are about eight weeks old the yards are opened and the birds given. free range. When the chicks show a disposition to roost on top in- stead of inside the brooder, roosts are: placed back of the brooder and the chicks encouraged to occupy them, when in a short time the brooder can be removed, SUCCESS WITH POULTRY 71 Just as soon as grass starts in spring, we begin putting chicks in the outdoor brooders, and when they are four to six days old we let them out on the ground in small yards in front of the brooder. As soon as they get familiar with go- ing in and out. and learn to go inside when: the weather is stormy we give larger yards, running entirely around the brooder, and finally when the chicks are three or four weeks old we allow them free range. These chicks are fed same as in the indoor brooders, except that cut grass is omitted, as they help themselves to the fresh, growing article, and the exercise they get in pulling it off and running around the yards is a wonderful aid to growth. In my opinion an outdoor brooder should have a light, cool chamber attached, where the chicks can feed and exer- cise when very young, or when the weather is bad, and into which they can retreat in case the brood chamber should be- come overheated. Outdoor brooders have some advantages over those. indoor, but ‘they require more watchful care. Their greatest point of superiority is that the chicks can be got out on the ground at a much earlier age, and in running about their yard, nicking the fresh grass, ete, get much. healthful exercise. When the weather gets very hot the out- door brooder should be placed in the shade, and a shady run provided for the chicks when very young, as the intense heat of the sun kills a great many. When running at large the chicks will seek shade of their own accord. . : We like both kinds of brooders, use both, and would not wish to be deprived of either. H. J. BLANCHARD. The Brooder Chick from Egg to Maturity. Early in our experience of artificial brooding we became convineed of the fact that the- foundation of successful brooding was laid mofths before the chick was hatched. By this we mean that unless the breeding stock is in the best of physical health we cannot hope for the best results in rais- ing our young stock. Too many of the reasons assigned for the large mortality among chicks are, to say the least, of very uncertain signification, and not enough attention is paid to the poor condition of the breeding stock, which is, to our way of thinking, the main reason why a larger percent- age of chicks do not reach maturity. Our first attempt at brooding chickens artificially re- sulted in disastrous failure, but by close observation and many costly experiments, we finally adopted a method which ‘is giving us gratifying results, and we feel sure that those who will try it will be pleased with it. It goes without saying that the eggs must be well incu- bated, and every attention given them while under process of incubation. We leave the chicks in the incubator forty- eight hours after they come out of the shell. The morning of the third day we take them out of the ineubator and carry them to the brooders, which have been previously warmed for their reception. We then give them their first feed, which consists of whole wheat bread, moistened with mux. We never place more than fifty chicks in each brooder, some- times only forty. The temperature of the brooders is regu- lated by tae disposition of the chicks on the brooder floor; if well spread out, we know they have sufficient heat, if all crowded in a corner we know they need more heat. That is our thermometer, and a reliable one. We wis_ here to relate an experiment we made, in order to détermine the length of time chicks can be left in the in- cubator without food. Five chicks were left in the machine, the ventilators wide open, and the heat regulated to 100 de- grees, At first it was our intention to leave them in until tney showed signs of weakness, but on the fourth day our courage weakened, and we fed them. They had up to this time showed no other signs but that of being very hungry, running to the glass front of the machine upon hearing the least noise. We marked these chicks and let them rin with the rest. At maturity two of the cockerels weighed eight and three-quarter pounds each; three of the pullets six pounds, six and one-quarter pounds, and six and one-half pounds respectively. All of them lived to maturity and were always bright. Since then we always left our chicks forty- eight hours without food and believe this to be the very best way to start chickens growing. Contented. Our brooders are placed inside of a house eight by ten feet, with yards ‘eight by twenty-five feet, each brooder oc- cupying a separate house. The floor of the brooder is car- peted with eut clover, but the brooder house is filled in to above the sills with clean, sharp sand. The chicks are left in the brooder for two days, then let out into the house for three or four days, then the slide door to the yard is left open and they are given the run of their yards. When the chicks are six weeks old we take away the fence to the yards and give them the free run of the farm. For the first ten days of their lives our chicks are fed only whole wheat bread moistened in milk every four hours. Water (warmed in cold weather) is always before them from the start, and is renewed twice or four times a day according to the weather. When the chicks are ten days, old we still continue the wheat bread morning and night, the other two feeds are made up of the following mixed grains: Cracked wheat, 50 pounds; coarse oatmeal, 25 pounds; cracked corn, 10 pounds; millet seed, 5 pounds; fine meat scraps, 10 pounds. When fine meat seraps are not procurable, boil some liver, chop it up into fine pieces, and use that instead. Some heresy hunters will pick up their ears upon reading this and criticise us for giving meat to our young chicks, especially when given free range, but we know that it is impossible to grow the finest chicks without the free use 6 72 : SUCCESS WITH POULTRY of meat, but it must be used with judgment and be of good quality. , At six weeks old we make the mixture of whole grains instead of cracked, still feeding it twice a day, but at this ‘age the bread is replaced by a mash fed morning and night, composed as follows: Wheat, 50 pounds; shelled oats, 25 pounds; pearled barley, 15 pounds; corn, 10 pounds. We buy the grains whole and have them ground up together into a meal, To every 100 pounds of this meal we add 10 pounds of the finest quality meat scraps. We continue to feed our chicks four times a day until three months old, then we drop one meal, and feed only three times a day, mixed grains in the morning and noon, and mash at night. We aim to feed all they will eat at each meal, without overfeeding. Now and again when they do not appear hungry we drop a meal, and they are benefited by it. At three months old we separate the sexes, giving the eocKerels one part of the farm, the pullets the other. We have said nothing about charcoal, dry bran, tonics ‘and condition powders, simply because they are unnecessary. Grit of course we use and find we cannot get along, with- out it. While we are painfully aware that our method is not perfect, we cannot overlook the fact that by following it, as here described, we have succeeded in bringing to. maturity over ninety per cent of all chicks put in the brooders. Our chicks grow steadily from the shell up, our pullets begin lay- ing at six months old always. They have produced two hun- dred eggs in one year. A good deal of this large egg yield was due to the care given the pullets while growing and after they began to lay, but had they not been bred from layers w> could not have reached these results. If only those who decry the practice of breeding layers by the individual rec- ord system would try it, they would soon become converts to it. However, the proof of the pudding is the eating of it; give our way a trial before you condemn it; you will be pleased with the results. .C. BRICAULT, Massachusetts. eed and Care Given Flocks of Brooder Chicks, As our present plan of feeding is giving such ‘good re- sults we will here give you a description of the care and ‘feed given our chicks. We leave the chicks in the machines until Feeding Time, the morning’ of the twenty-second day, taking out the trays the night of the twenty-first day, thus giving the chicks more room and light. The morning of the twenty-third day the chicks are taken out and put into out-door brooders and given a break- fast of dry rolled oats, which we feed for a week or ten days. A little chopped lettuce is much relished by the chicks also. From rolled oats we go to a mixed food consisting of the H. O. Co. poultry food with a little more rolled oats and meat meal added to it. This we mix up with curdled milk until it will crumble in the hand. This we feed until it is ‘ An Interesting Study. time for whole grain and cracked corn, and we find it is giv- ing grand results, We neglected to state at the beginning that first and foremost the chicks are given plenty of fresh water as well as good food, all of which make chicks grow and keep them growing. Charcoal and fine grit are also among the necessities of proper feeding. Great care should be taken to keep the brooders cleaned ‘at least once. a week, and aired every day. Mr. Wyckoff has always used indoor brooders, but he always had a great deal of trouble in keeping the chicks warm early in the season and cool as the season advanced, and the result was the loss of chicks. There is one point in - favor of indoor brocuers, and that is in rainy weather the chicks have more room, but with the style of brooders we have now in use we have had no trouble on this score, as we only put seventy-five into each brooder, which is but half their capacity, thus giving the chicks plenty of room for different kinds of weather. Attached to each brooder is a small wire run, where the chicks are let out for a week or ten days, until they get used, ‘to going in and out of the brooder, then the fence is removed and the chicks have free range every pleasant day until they are separated and put in the brooder house and taught to go onto the roost. We think we have the best plan for young chick roosts we have seen. We use four saw-horses placed at even dis- tances apart. On these we have eleven roosts, four inches wide by twenty feet long, placed about two inches apart. These are fastened to the end horses by boring holes through the slats and horses and putting spikes through both, thus holding them all in position. We find them easy to build, easy to clean and easy to take down and store. These eleven roosts will accommodate from three to four hundred half-grown chicks. Our brooder house is situated in a large pear orchard covering about eight acres; the soil is gravel and sand and is seeded to clover. We also have SUCCESS WITH POULTRY 73 two living springs, so our stock gets plenty of good pure water, lots of shade, ample range, with plenty of insects to ‘keep them busy between meals. GRAY & STORKE, New York. Brooder Chicks and Growing Stock—Care and Food. It is a delightfully easy thing to tell how to raise chick- ens. It is not quite so easy to successfully raise them, There ig little need for any extended directions for raising chickens by the natural method other than in the points of food and cleanliness with some little attention to the details of hous- ing and shade. With artificial hatching the business takes on a development and calls for much greater care and de- cidedly more attention to food and management. Little need be said of the hatching, except that the best incubators should be used, the second rate and cheaper ma- chines being generally unworthy of confidence, that is, the problem of hatching is of sufficient importance that only the very best means.to this end should be accepted. In producing eggs for hatching the very best attention must be given to the breeding stock, and if good results are to be had the birds must be the product of several genera- tions of hardy, vigorous stock. The strongest emphasis may be placed upon the fact that it is much easier to hatch chickens than it is to raisé them after they are hatched, and the first two weeks in the little bird’s life is a crucial period, and under some condi- tions the second two weeks is harder to’ tide over than the first fortnight, yet with due care and proper attention to the warmth and food they may be and are successfully car-: ried to an age after which death is generally the result of accident rather than ailment or disease. What they shall be fed when taken from the machine at the expiration of twenty-four or thirty-six hours is a ques- tion which has exercised the mind of every producer of chickens. Every conceivable sort of food has been sug- gested, recommended and tried in more or less cases. Wo believe that the simpler the ration the better the chicken and the surer the success in its raising. All fancy mixtures aud fussy feeding notions may be safely eliminated. The old time mixture of boiled eggs and cracker crumbs is now- a-days pretty generally neglected. In some instances breed- ers are using this mixture successfully, but in more cases they are killing their chickens apparently by its use. We have tried practically every system from the egg and crumb diet to that of dry food alone, including baked cakes, bread crumbs and various oat foods and so on, et cetera, et eeterg, and have gradually simmered down to the point where we now feed exclusively for the first two days a mix- ture of two-thirds wheat bran and one-third Indian meal moistened with milk, and to this we add about five per cent of fine gravel or grit. The chickens are fed all they can eat, in fact it is before them practically all the time for the first forty-eight hours, and:from then until a week or two of age there is very little of the time when food is not within their reach. After the first two or three days they are fed in addition finely sifted cracked corn and ‘rolled oats, chopped oats, cracked wheat, or in fact any grain or food which they will eat. We conclude it makes very little difference so long as they have a fair proportion ‘of animal food which, with us, is in the form of ground beef scraps, and it may be just as well or better in the form of milk, either sweet or sour, skimmed or whole. When milk is fed to very small chickens it is better to moisten their food with it than that they have it to drink. If they have it as a drink they are quite apt to smear themselves with it making them sticky and dirty and both ill-feeling and ill-looking. After the first three or four days the grit is left out of the food, a supply being kept canstantly within reach, which they eat as they require it. The warmth in tne hover is started at ninety-five degrees, with the chickens all in. From that it is gradually lowered, more attention being paid.to the action of the chicken than to the temperature as registered by the mercury. When the chickens are comiort- able and settle down contentedly without overcrowding or pushing too much to the outside it is concluded that the conditions are right and they are doing well. When, on the other hand, they crowd and ery, not enough heat is supplied, and we give them .more. It is impossible to give small chickens a satisfactory treatment where the brooders are run altogether by the thermometer, regardless of. the out- side weather conditions, and the indications: of comfort, which may be observed from the chickens themselves. The brooder floors and pens should be scattered with chaff or covered with sand to induce action and exercise through scratching and working for partieles of dry food, which may be thrown about in the litter: The one thing essential to the health of the chicken is abundant exercise. Without this they will not thrive, and success cannot’ be attained. In or- der to get the necessary exercise it is imperative that they have an abundant supply of fresh air and an outdoor run at all seasons of the year. A few minutes in the open air will do the smallest chicken good, and after they are a week or ten days old they may be trusted to run back and forth in pleasant weather almost regardless of how cold the outside temperature may be. Fussy coddling and over-heated com- partments have been responsible for the death of more chickens than any other cause. Whenever trouble appears in a flock of chickens the first question with the average be- ginner, and sometimes with the more experienced person, is what their food has been. The attention and investigation is generally directed toward the food. The facts are that the strong, healthy chickens having abundant exercise and a good supply of fresh air will stand almost any sort of food without taking harm. The main thing is to get the exercise. It perhaps might be noted here that this is practically the. secret of success in managing breeding stock as well as chickens. Clean water should be always within reach of chick- ens and it should be kept in some such fountain as will make it impossible for the little birds to get into it. This will | save frequent drenching and occasional deaths by drowning. In extremely cold weather it is better that newly hatched chickens should have luke-warm water than that it should be given to them icy cold. Many breeders do not give the little chickens any water until several days old, some even keeping them several weeks without it. We have not thought it the best way, and we give water from the first. From their very evident pleasure in drinking, it must taste good to them and we doubt any possibility of harm from drinking overmuch clean, pure water. There is a good deal of question what the limit is in the numbers that may be kept together safely. Many advocate fifty as the best. limit, while others keep from one hundred to two hundred in the same pens and under the same hovers. There is little doubt that for the beginner, at least, flocks of fifty or sixty will do better, and there will be a lower death rate than in flocks of one hundred and upward. We have built our brooder building with the pens three by ten feet, which are designed to accommodate from fifty to seventy- five small chickens, They will easily hold fifty chickens un- til six weeks of age if tne chickens have an outdoor run. 74 SUCCESS WITH POULTRY They are then put in a pen four by ten feet and kept until well feathered out, when they are removed to colony houses of one description or another. and winter chickens must have heat practically throughout the winter. . Late birds do very well without artificial heat after the last of March and may be safely colonized in suitable coops at a few weeks of age—almost every kind of coop is used for this purpose, and it really matters very little what the style of the structure be, so long as it conserves the essential features, which are dryness and freedom from direct draught. For some years open front and bottomless roost- ing coops .ave been strongly advocated as being the best fitted for growing chickens colonized in groups of from thirty to fifty. Our experience has led us to do away alto- gether with open fronts and coops without bottoms. There is a constant trouble from colds caused either by driving rains or bunching up on the ground, thus drawing up the dampness, which ends in re nostrils, WikeZnig and general debility. As the chickens grow older they are fed rather dif- ferently. They have their regular morning feed, with one at noon and another at night, generally the morning and the night feeds are of mashes composed of bran and meal of about equal parts, with from ten per cent to fifteen per cent of beef scraps added. Oyster shell and grit are always by them and green food is suyplied as abundantly as is con- venient. Where the runs are large enough so that the green food is not eaten down, no other need be given, but in yards devoid of grass some substitute will have to be added to the grain rations. In addition to these regular feeds three times a day many of the most practical and sue- cessful poultrymen keep a box of cracked corn open to them from which they may eat at pleasure. Many also keep a kox of coarsely ground scrap, which is kept constantly filled and which may be had at all times. As the chickens gain size and the cockerels mature they are separated from the pullets, leaving from twenty-five to thirty-five or forty pullets in a flock. The cockerels are re- moved to another yard and if designed for market birds are fed all the fattening food which they will take and as fast as they are in fit condition they are sent to market. The earlicr hatched pullets should not be fed quite so much meat or animal food as the later hatched ones, or they will begin laying too early and will moult out in the fall, thus jeopard- izing the supply of winter eggs. It ‘is possible by forced feeding of animal food to induce very early laying, and we this season, without extra heavy strain, have started our Wyandotte pullets to laying at four and one-half months, which is too early to get the best size on the birds or the best results in constant egg production. Too early maturity is as much to be avoided ag too late, that is, the pullet which grows along freely and gets a suitable frame and size before beginning to lay will make the strongest and most vigorous breeding bird and will in the end prove the most profitable. We feed very little whole corn, as the cracked corn gives them more exercise in scratching, and feeding, and does not pack so closely together in the crop. Considerable shelled and whole oats are fed, together with some wheat; the wheat, however, is more sparingly fed on account of the ex- tra cost. We are able to get the same growing value from wheat bran and beef scrap at a much less cost than we can get it from wheat, of which the best grades only should be fed. Smoked and damaged grains, such as are commonly on sale for poultry, are unfit for this purpose, Of course the early hatched - Very many fancy formulas are to be had for broiler feeding as distinet from roasters. We believe there is really very little difference and that the chicken that is properly fed and is in the right condition will be good to kill for broilers without any. extra preparation, and chickens which are good broilers will if kept mature into good roasters. One of the really necessary things to do is to get rid of about nine-tenths of all.the accumulated wisdom which has been loaded on to the chicken business, in many cases until it has nearly swamped it, and to gét back to a few very plain prin- ciples. These briefly stated would be sufficient warmth, cleanliness, plain food, and plenty of it; this, together with a good range, will produge chickens at a satisfactory profit, if tlie breeding stock has been Properly selected and bred. One of the very necessary points is good shade and it must be had in some way, either by trees, board or brush sheds or otherwise. We have killed two birds with one stone, or rather saved several birds with one idea by build- ing a number of houses on posts which leaves them elevated about twelve inches or fifteen inches from the ground. These coops are floored, which keeps the birds high and dry. and free from dampness and at the same time allows them sufficient shelter from the sun, together with the draught, which is generally found nearest the ground, and on rainy days they bunch together under the buildings and enjoy themselves much better than they would were they obliged to stay inside. A board runway leads from the chicken door to the ground, giving them convenient passage to and from the inside. Since we have adopted this method of keeping the chickens we have had very much less trouble from colds and greater thrift than by the former method of colonizing in open front coops without floors. These coops are built. four by eight feet and are four and one-half feet high in front and three feet at back, giving a sharp pitch to the roof, which sheds the water readily. They are covered with tar- red paper and have one sash, six lights, nine by twelve inches, and a door twenty-four inches wide, and full hetgit of the building, which is fitted with a sereen for use in hot weather. There is an opening at the highest, point at each end, which allows the heat to escape. This is closed in cold weather. ‘the birds may be carried in this building through the winter if necessary, and before the chickens are large enough in the spring to be placed in them they are used for breeding pens and are very convenient for this purpose. These buildings are, as are all other quarters inhabited by chickens, thoroughly disinfected at frequent intervals with a solution of carbolic acid and water. Care must be exer- cised that too much carbolic acid is not used immediately before the chickens are shut in for any length of time as too mueh acid is quite fatal to small chickens. Any high grade disinfectant would answer the same purpose, the idea being to keep the house free from disease germs and to help the sanitary conditions. G. H. POLLARD. Brooder Chicks—Feed and Care. I want to tell you of my mode of feeding-and caring for chicks. After the chicks are hatched I leave them in the machine at least twenty-four hours before placing them in the brooder. ‘This makes them strong and vigorous. As soon as they are placed in the brooder I give them sand or fine grit and water. I keep water by them all the time, good, clean, fresh water. My first feed is hard boiled eggs chopped up fine. After that I feed millet scattered among the chaff that is on the bottom of the brooder and run. I feed both millet and hard boiled eggs at intervals (just what they will clean up and SUCCESS WITH POULTRY | 75 work for) for the first week, after that I give them a feed of cooked rice (cooked dry) for a change, also cut oats and corn bread. As the chicks grow older I add whole wheat and also feed some mash with a little blood meal in it about twice a week. One of tne great points in feeding and care of chicks is ‘‘common sense and judgment.’’ Study your brood and you can see at a glance how much and what to: feed to supply their wants, _ ; I remember one season I tried not feeding any food or water for the first forty-eight hours, ete. Well, the result was I lost all the chicks. As brooders (the leading ma- chines) are nearly all properly constructed it remains for the opeiator to do his or her part, which if done there wut be no trouble.. I rear and have raised by farmers from 1,500 to 2,000 White Plymouth Rocks every year, and must say if the farmers follow the above method of care and feed we lose but -ew chicks. I have pullets laying now and cock- erels like old birds. It may be this is all due to their being White Plymouth Rocks, but I think the mode of care and feed has sometuing to do with it. U. BR. FISHEL, The Value of Exercise, Limited Food, and Even Temperature. Our experience with brooders has been somewhat varied, and not at all ‘‘clear sailing’’ by any means. We had some very disheartening times while we were getting our ‘‘ex-’ perience.’’ The poultry journals are full of advice regarding the operating of brooders. These methods sometimes seem di- rectly opposed, and still, no doubt, they are the truthful ex- perience of the writers. We believe that the greater. num- ber of failures with brooder chicks are caused by too much heat and overfeeding. We do not believe that brooders can be run successfully, generally, in cold weather without the use of thermometers. Chicks taken directly from the incu- bators and placed in the brooders will stand a far greater amount of heat than is good for them. Consequently if we judge altogether by. their actions we may keep them at a much higher temperature than is good for them. This is reasonable,'for we can so accustom a child toa high tem- perature that it will be uncomfortable in a room under ninety degrees, and none will deny that this amount of heat is injurious to the child. Ninety degrees three inches from the floor in the hover of the brooder is about right for the first week. This should be reduced gradually to eighty-five degrees the second week and to sighty by the end of the third week. We have killed a whole lot of chicks, both in brooders and with hens, with kindness, i. e., with too much food. "Now, we never feed oftener than three times a day from the very start, either with brooders or hens. This way works well with us and we shall stick to it.’ The danger of over- feeding with brooder chicks is especially great, as they do not and cannot take as much exercise as those with hens. Don’t worry if they get hungry enough between meals to seratch good and hard. This is the making of them. It will help digest their food and ward off diarrhoea, which is only the result of indigestion. ° All brooders should have an open runway or yard, and the chicks should be accustomed to running in this for at least a short time from the very start. Give fresh water to drink from the first. Keep fine grit in the brooders all the time. Keep the temperature right; have them take plenty of exercise; feed only three times a day, and ‘‘what you feed will not be so important. ‘We are very partial to millet seed. In fact we have said that we could raise chicks on this alone, with water and grit. Equal parts of corn meal, bran, shorts and clover meal, baked with soda or baking powder, makes a good win- ter feed. Stale bread, soaked soft and squeezed dry, is an excellent food for starting chicks. Put chaff in the yards or runs and sprinkle just a little millet seed in it and watch them scratch for it. This is our way, no theory, all practice. If your way is different, and you are successful, stick to it. W. B. GIBSON & SON. Feeding the Brooder Chicks. I have used several kinds of brooders. I first began with outdoor brooders with bottom heat, but had little success, but that was about twelve years ago, before brooders were as well perfected as at the present time. For a while after that I hatched with incubators and brooded with hens and since have used top heat indoor brooders with success. The brooder with which I have had the greatest suc- cess is one having a hot water pipe system, and with this I can raise a larger per cent of the chicks hatched than with hens, and the same number with much less trouble and expense. ‘ I feed chicks after they are about thirty-six hours old, once every two hours through the day till about four weeks old. No one need fear that any food is too fattening for young chicks. They need carbonaceous or fattening food to keep them warm while they are small and to sustain their vigor during the period of rapid growth. There is no one food which is as good as cornmeal, either in mush or bread, but I think a variety of foods is better than any one alone. A very excellent food for chickens is bread made from two parts cornmeal and one part wheat middlings, with two tablespoonfuls of animal meal added to each quart of the mixture; this stirred to a stiff batter with sour milk, in which enough soda has been dissolved to make it light, and baked in thin cakes to be fed warm or cold. This bread may form the main food till the chicks are large enough to eat eracked corn, broken rice and small grain and the bread may be supplemented by hard boiled eggs chopped fine, and other palatable foods. I save the infertile eggs from the in- cubators to boil for the chicks. After they can eat small grain foods I feed a mash once daily of the same meal mix- ture as described for bread, and a variety of grain foods, such as steamed rolled oats, wheat and cracked corn, plenty of oyster shells and grit, and clean, fresh water, give access to a good grassy run, and a clean brooder. In short, to get the best results, chicks should be kept steadily growing from. the time they leave the shell till they are fully matured. As they grow older they require proportionately more of the bone and muscle forming food and less of the more fatten- ing materials. The best way to care for the brooder is to clean it every morning and put clean sand on the floor to absorb moisture and to ease the chicken’s tender feet from the hard floor. GEORGE H. NORTHUP, New York. Care of Brooder Chicks—Colony Coops and New Ground. After many years with Buff Cochins we have almost adopted and believe the saying that, ‘‘If you hatch ten Cochin chicks and a board does not fall on them, you are al- most sure to raise the whole ten.’’? A good brooder, proper food, pure water, plenty of shade and green grass, freedom from lice, and the proper attention, will make Cochin rais- ing the simplest thing in the world. Our chicks are hatched both by hens and incubators, and we find absolutely no difference in the chicks, with the 76 SUCCESS WITH POULTRY exception. that those hatched by incubators are free from lice. - It is almost aes to raise to maturity chicks from _ unhealthy and improperly cared for parents. It is equally ‘impossible to raise chicks that have been ‘improperly incu- bated, whether by hens or incubators. It is just. as probable that you will get improperly ineu- bated chicks from hens as from incubators; for how often ‘do you see @ poor, run-down, emaciated hen bring into ex- istence a flock of chicks when sh¢ is so weak, poor, and run- down that she is barely able to stand. This is not the fault _ Of, the hen, but of the failure of the proper attention having been given her. One can readily understand how impossible it would be to start and develop into active and vigorous life chicks that have been brought into the world under such unfavorable circumstances. Therefore, our first aim is to get our chicks from healthy, well cared for parents, and then to have them hatched under the most favorable conditions. When the chicks are hatched we leave them under the hen or in the incubator at least twenty-four-hours, If they are taken out sooner than this, they are not so strong, and the chance of raising them is much lessened. They are then given a thorough dusting of Persian insect powder. very important, as they cannot thrive when lice are present. ' We raise our chicks in outdoor brooders, using two hun- dred chick size, and put from forty to fifty chicks in each brooder. ' The brooder is gotten clean and. is heated to ninety ‘degrees the day the chicks are due to hatch, so that every- “thing is ‘im readiness for them. They are given plenty of _water at once, and their first food consists of fine dry rolled oats. During the first ten days they are fed exclusively on rolled oats and millet seed. They are fed six times a day, alternating with rolled oats and millet. On the tenth day they are given in addition to the rolled oats and millet, well bakéd corn cakes, chopped fine. If-they become droopy we add to and mix thoroughly with the corn cakes some finely ground Mica Crystal grit. This is the only medicine little ‘ chicks need. It is surprising to note how quickly they brighten up on this treatment. When three weeks old we gradually add to their rations crackeed wheat and finely cracked corn, cutting out the rolled oats. We continue to feed the millet and corn cakes in conjunction with the cracked corn and cracked wheat until they are six weeks old. We then cut out the millet and corn cakes and substitute hulled oats and American poultry food. The American poultry food is given at noon, and to this is added twice a - week fresh ground green bone. We believe in feeding frequently and in small quantities at a time, as overfeeding is sure to make chicks dull and stupid and eventually bring on indigestion and inflammation of the crop. In giving the different rations we alternate and change as much as possible in order to keep them from tiring of any one ration. We give them fresh water twice a day, being very careful to keep the same in the shade, As we use outdoor brooders we are able to have them constantly on the move and thereby give the chicks pure fresh earth and grass. . It.is very important to provide plenty of shade in sum- mer. It is equally important to place the brooder for one hour gach day, while open, where it will be subjected to the direct rays of sunlight, as this method and cleanliness are the only means of preventing the origin and spreading of tuberculosis, which is sure to occur in a close, crowded brooder, especially if dark and damp. When the chicks are first put into the brooder they are confined for from one to three days, the length of time de- . of shelter. This is, pending on the state of the. weather. The brooders being placed on a nice green grass plot, we then provide for each brooder, one hundred yards of wire netting, one foot wide, with one inch mesh. When the chicks are first, liberated from the brooder we drive stakes into the ground and make a coil enclosing about three square feet of space. As the chicks become more active, and readily cover this space, it is gradually enlarged from week to week, until the whole hundred yards are in use. This method has saved us lots of worry and trouble, for when the chicks are young and are first liberated, if given too much space they are almost cer- tain to stay away from the brooder, and it is very difficult to teach them to return to it. Then, again, brooder raised chicks have no mother to look after them and in case of a storm they can be very readily found and driven to a place We have found that it is not so mueh the size of the run that makes healthy chicks, but it is the frequency with which they are changed from old to new quarters. When they weigh about one and a half pounds or are -ni¢ely feathered, we divide them into lots of twelve each, being careful to have each lot the same size and devlop- ment. These are placed in colonies, each colony being all cockerels or all pullets. Each colony is provided with a coop four by five feet, three feet high in front and two feet in the rear, These coops are provided with a storm door, and also with another door covered with fine mesh screen. This latter door is used on warm nights, and protects the chicks from vermin, ete., and the outer door, which is hinged at the top, is lowered about one-third, which protects the chicks in case of storms during the night. The bottoms of these coops are covered with a thick bed of straw. This is to prevent the breast bones of the chicks from becoming crooked, which is very prone to oceur with Cochins. We never provide them with roosts until they are one year old. When they are eight months old they are provided with more commodious quarters, and those showing Promise of becoming choice exhibition specimens are. cooped either in ‘pairs or singly with the object of preserving their massive foot and leg feathering. A. W. RUBY & SON. Limit the Number of Chicks in Brooders. The most successful way that I have found to raise, chicks in brooders is the following. Build a brooder house for each brooder, say about six feet by eight feet, with a door and a window to the south. Have these brooder houses scattered about the orchard, about one hundred feet or more apart, each house to be furnished ;with a one hundred-chick brooder. In this put from fifty to seventy-five chicks, It is not advisable to put more than seventy-five chicks in any brooder, fifty ;would be better, as I find that I usually can raise more of the chicks when I only put fifty chicks in a brooder than when I put in seventy-five or one hundred, be- ‘sides: you will have stronger and healthier chicks at matur- ity. I have no yards for the chicks, but give them free range. I do not let them run out until about a week old, after which I let them run out. on all fine days, but always keep them in until the dew is off the grass, at least until they are well feathered. If this is done you will not have much trouble with gapes. Begin feeding when chicks are about twenty-four hours old. For the first few feeds I find nothing better than bread crumbs. Feed the first week about four times a day with bread crumbs and oatmeal. After the first week, when I let them run out, I feed three times a day, soft food in the morning and either oatmeal, eracked wheat, cracked corn or millet at noon and evening. Change about from one kind to the other and then the chicks oo oe SUCCESS WITH POULTRY 17 will always have an appetite. When chicks are four or five weeks old I feed only twice a day. Feed whole wheat and corn just as-soon as they can eat it. Always have plenty of grit standing around for them, and give them fresh drink-- ing water. Keep the brooders and brooder houses clean and look for mites each time you clean brooders, Saturate the sides and bottom of the brooders with coal oil once in two weeks, and then the mites will not trouble you. | The foregoing is for chicks raised on a farm where there is plenty of range. T.also find that farm raised chicks, as a tule, make stronger and healthier chicks at maturity and ought to be sold at better prices than: those raised on small city or town lots, but they seldom are. You find that city breeders always ask double the price for their inferior stock, although it is no better than that raised on the farm. The best chickens for either the show room or for business are those that are raised on the farm which have unlimited Tage. EMANUEL SCHIEBER, Ohio. Brooding and Feeding Chicks. In raising chicks in brooders the first thing to be consid- ered isthe brooder. A brooder should be. used that will give the chicks plenty of warm fresh air. Some people have the erroneous idea that air must be cold in order to be fresh, which of course is false. A brooder may be so ventilated that the outside air is sufficiently warmed before reaching the ehicks. is kept at the right. temperature, for if the temperature be kept too low or too high for a considerable length, of time the result will be an unnatural growth of wings, and weak sickly chicks. The chicks snould be kept so that they will lie down and go to sleep and not be obliged to huddle to- gether to keep warm, neither be forced to the coldest corner of the brooder to cool off. Another thing to be considered is the number to be placed in one brooder. The brooders that I use are two and one-half by three feet, placed in one end of coops, which are three by six feet. Such a brooder will accommodate seventy- five chicks nicely; we have raised more than that, but thai number or less is better. . After the right brooder, with the right temperature and the right number of chicks are obtained, the next thing to be thought of is the food and drink. There are many different methods of feeding, many of which we have tried with good results, but perhaps as good, if not the best method of teeding, for the first four or five days is oat flake and millet, with a few bread crumbs fed four times a day. After that gradually work them on to a mixture of cornmeal, wneat middlings, and wheat bran, with -a few beef scraps for their mixed food, and cracked corn and wheat, which should be given after they have eaten their mixed food. Close attention should be given to the drop- pings, and if they do not become hard in two or three days a little black pepper may be mixed with bread crumbs moist- ened. Care must be taken that none of their mixed food be sticky or gummy. Another and perhaps one of the most important things to be looked after in raising chicks is their drink. They should have fresh water placed in-clean drinking fountains. A fountain that can not be opened and cleaned never should ‘be used, for a slimy substance will form on the inside of the fountain and unless removed‘ will surely cause bowel trouble. Many persons have lost nearly all their chickens from this cause and then wondered why they are not suc- eessful. If by reading these suggestions some of. your read- Due attention should be given to see that it, ers are helped in their struggle to make poultry pay I shall feel repaid for my effort. A. A. HARTSHORN, New York. Better Too Much Heat Than Too Little. How easy to rear young chicks if we only knew what to feed, how to feed, when to feed, and how much to feed, and a thongand other hows, ifs and ands. In our years of experience in rearing chicks in brooders and by mother hens we find the results about the same in regard to the number raised and cost of food. But chicks reared in brooders are more peaceable and quiet and mach easier handled, hence make better show birds. We also find “that we are not troubled so much with lice and disease, for the simple reason that remedies are more easily applied. Again, we have the use of the hen in the breeding yard, and save the food which she would eat if left. with the chicks, This is a large gain in rearing thousands of chicks per year, as the food for young chicks is quite costly. Our method of raising chicks in brooders is as follows: After leaving chicks in ..e ineubator or under the hen until twelve or thirty hours old, we place them in the heated brooder, with the thermometer registering ninety degrees, allowing the temperature to fall until the chicks are three weeks old, after which we use no artificial heat. In regard to pen room, I have raised as high as ‘two hundred chicks in brooders four by eight feet, and one hun- dred and sixty-five chicks in brooder three and a half by” _six feet, and only lost one chick, and that one in the small, -brooder) this season. ‘We never have’ had as good” ‘results with small brooders. We leave our chicks in ‘brooders. the first two or three weeks, according to the weather, and give them a run in the yard ten by twenty feet, until six to eight weeks old, after which we place them on the farm. After trying many experiences, with good as well as poor results, we find this the most successful of all, with no extra trouble or expense. Any one can rear a brood of éhicks in this way. We ofter a few suggestions in regard’ to feed and heat while chicks are in brooders and’ small yards. If you wish’ to avoid bowel trouble, give clabber milk once a day. We’ have learned this rule: Better have chicks two degrees too warm than one too cold. When chicks are too ‘warm they will scatter over brooder and when too cold will Stal over one another, smothering weaker chicks, : We always feed one teaspoonful of sulphur in food to fifty chicks, twice per week during dry weather. ‘This we think aids the feathering. IRA T. MATTESON, Ohio, How to Successfully Raise Brooder Chicks. One of the first things to be considered in raising brood- er chicks successfully is the parent ‘stock which must be in perfect health, properly fed and given abundant exercise to insure fertile eggs and strong chicks.~ A first-¢lass incubator must be selected, one that will hatch from 75 to 90 per cent of fertile eggs, and when you get such hatches you will get strong chicks that will live if properly cared. for. .The next thing to be selected is a brooder, and this is equally if not more important than the incubator. You must get a brooder that imitates a hen as closely as possible; one that will let in any amount of fresh airs one that has a’ ‘réund eylinder with no corners for chicks to crowd in, and one easily heated with a lamp that will not blow out or sthoke. I prefer the single brooders to the pipe system. In winter heat your house to 60 and 70 degrees and keep your ‘brooders 90 dé- grees at the start, gradually lowering the temperature after twelve days, or do not let the chicks get ¢hilléd at“any 78 SUCCESS WITH POULTRY time or allow them to crowd, for if you do bowel trouble will be the result which will take off a large per cent in a short time. Too much heat will weaken them and cause many to dié, so you must be very careful, especially at night, about obtaining the right temperatyre, as it often grows very cool the latter part of the night, so a little extra flame should be left on in cool nights. © ‘I use runs five feet wide, ten feet long inside of house, and outside runs fifty feet long well shaded in summer. The next and most important of all is feed. I wish to say right here that overfeeding for the first four weeks of a chick’s life has put more people out of the business than all other things combined. You can hardly feed too little. We feed four times a day for the first five weeks. The first three weeks we use principally dry feed’ and make them, seratch for every meal but that given at night. We feed Spratt’s Patent Chick Feed morning and night. At ten and two o’clock we feed millet seed, pinhead oatmeal and crack- ed wheat. We keep them well bedded with cut clover two to three inches deep, and throw all their feed in this. They also eat much of the clover. We feed very sparingly at first. Keep them hungry:at all times. Much depends on keeping them at work; it assists in keeping them in good health. We keep grit and charcoal before’ them all the time, and fresh water is always before them. Care must be taken to keep their drinking dishes free from slime; they should be washed daily. Clean your broder every other ‘ day if you bed with cut hay, and every day if you use sand or bran. After three weeks your chicks will begin to tire of this feed, then we give two meals a day of soft food composed of one part stale bread soaked in water, or better, milk, one part bran, one part hominy meal, ten per cent Spratt’s Ground Meat. H. O. Poultry Food with ten per cent good beef scraps is a grand growing food and much easier pre- pared, but more expensive. We continue Spratt’s Chick Feed once a day for two weeks longer, giving mash morn- ing and night, using cracked corn and wheat once a day. If running for broilers make your mash one-half corn meal. We run but fifty to sixty chicks in one lot, as this is enough for any single brooder if you want them to live. After they are old enough to leave the brooder and you cannot give free range make yards twenty feet wide by one hundred feet long and put sixty to seventy-five in a flock on grass yards- with plenty of shade, dividing the pullets from the cockerels. Keep them free from lice and you will have birds of fine quality for breeders. EDGAR BRIGGS, New York. Principally a Question of Moisture. **T can hatch the chicks easily enough, but to raise them is the question.’? This expression is very frequently heard from those raising poultry by artificial methods. I have done a great deal of experimenting along this a ling during the past eight years. Some seven years ago I thought I struck the right idea for brooding young chicks when first hatched. I had three separate houses, 7x12. I built flues for each of these houses and put indoor brooders in them, also a small stove. Now, for the results. The chicks did fine for about a week and I thought now I am on the road to success, but, lo! I went to feed them one morn- ing ang a number of them looked like big toads swollen to nearly double size. I removed the stoves and the trouble stopped. I then worked along a.few years with indoor brood- ers and cool, dry houses with varied success. In 1899 I com- menced with outdoor brooders. This season I have used nine of them, raising some broods nearly to a chicken, while losing some broads almost entirely—all losses except a. tew with the universal disease, bowel trouble. Those brooded with thens occasionally died in same proportion. I concluded from observation that it was moisture and not the feed that eaused the trouble, as I noticed if the weather was dry whether the temperature was high or low I raised about all the chicks, and also if I got them by the first ten days without bowel trouble they were all right. To satisfy my- self that it was moisture the first week or ten days that gives them bowel trouble I put several hens with chicks up in a loft for a week. It was perfectly dry in this loft and I never lost a strong chick after this experiment. From this experience I shall construct a room in the loft of some of my buildings next season with plenty of light and ventilation without fire except in the brooder and keep all incubator chicks up above the ground for the first ten days. _ A god many perusing this article will say, ‘‘He has not said a word about feed.’’' I don’t expect to say much about feed as it is immaterial what you feed if you solve the moisture problem. I can raise every chick hatched, as I have done it, on the same feed I feed old fowls when there is no moisture to contend with. Give the chicks plenty of grit and clean water, a little green food and you can safely feed them any feed you may have, if you keep them free from moisture the first two weeks of their lives. As to space required for brooder chicks, of course the more the better. With my outdoor brooder chicks I use three boards making a triangular yard, the sharp angle com- ing up to the brooder, using two sixteen and one twelve- foot boards one food wide. I keep them in this yard with plenty of chaff to scratch in until they get large enough to fly over the board. Then I cut small openings in the boards for them to go out and in at will. If you have limited space this yard will accommodate probably forty until near frying size if you are careful about sanitary conditions. I am enabled to put forty to sixty in brooders three feet square, and keep them in these at night until frying size is reached. I then cull and run them in a movable brood house until four or five months old, gradually moving the brood house nearer to permanent ‘house, and finally moving brood- house away. O. E. SKINNER, Kansas, RULES FOR RAISING CHICKS IN BROODERS BY P. H. 1. If the chicks do not come out of the eggs until the 22nd day, or longer, it indicates that the temperature of the egg drawer was too low or eggs too old. They should be- gin to pip on the 20th day. 2. If they begin to come out on the 18th day it indi- ' 3. If chicks come out weak it indicates either too high JACOBS. eates that the average temperature was too high. or too low a temperature, or that the eggs were from im- mature pullets or over-fat hens. 4. Give no food for thirty-six hours after the chicks are hatched. : 5. They should then be fed every two hours until one SUCCESS WITH POULTRY 79 week old. After that time feed four times a day until a month old, then three times a day will suffice. 6. Keep a little box of ground charcoal, one of clean ground bone and one of small sharp flint, before them, with. plenty of coarse, sharp sand on the floor, Also a box of ground oyster shells, as grit, but in recommending these substances it may be stated that any kind of sharp small grit will answer. 7. The first feeding may be of pinhead oatmeal, rolled (or flaked) oats are ready prepared, and ean be had ‘of any grocer, being the prepared oatmeal for instantaneous prepar- ation of oatmeal gruel. Feed them to the chieks dry, but they should not be used except as u variety, the pinhead oatmeal being preferred. Stale brcad moistened with milk may also be given. Crumbled stale bread fed dry is also an excellent food, 8 On the third day after beginning to feed, vary the food by- giving the oats one meal and prepared cake the next. The prepared cake is made by using equal parts of bran, ground corn and oats (corn and oats are usually ground together) and middiings (shipstuff) which should be salted to season it, intimately mixed, and cooked in a pan in the stove oven. Sift the corn and oats first, and feed the coarse parts to fowls. If fresh milk ean be had the food may be mixed with it before cooking, if not, use water. Crumble the cake fine when feeding. It should be fed dry. 9. Millet seed, a gill to 100 chicks, may be scattered in litter, between meals, to induce the chicks to scratch, but never leave in the troughs food that is not eaten. 10. Ground meat is sometimes used for chicks, but re- sults show that too much of it causes bowel trouble. If a piece of lean butcher’s meat be cooked to pieces (or chopped fine after cooking), and fed twice a week, it will be suffi- cient. A gill of linseed meal to every part of the dry mix- ture (for making the prepared cake) given once a week, will be beneficial. , 11. After the first week any kind of food,. such as mashed potatoes, cooked turnips, crumbled bread of any kind, or any ‘wholesome food, will be of advantage. 12. When ten days old the oats may be omitted,.and wheat one day and cracked corn the next, may be used. Be- gin to teach the chicks to eat wheat and cracked corn early by sprinkling a little on the floor (about a tablespoonful daily) after they are a week old. 13. Young chicks do not eat much at a time, but they eat often. Do not omit a meal. Feed at regular hours. 14. After the chicks are three weeks old the cake may be omitted, the food being varied instead, but the quantity of bran should be reduced one-half. 15. Bran is indigestible if fed raw, and sometimes causes bowel disease, but if cooked, or well scalded, so as to soften it, the bran makes a good food, as it largely abounds in the phosphates, being the best bone-forming element that ean be given. 16. Water ehould be given in a manner that only the beak of the chick can become wet. The chicks must not be allowed to tread in the water. Dampness is fatal. : ‘Get some fresh stone lime, slack it with boiling watér, then make a quantity of lime water. Keep it in a jug, corked. To every quart of drinking water add a gill of the lime water. 18. I£ the chicks appear weak, or have weak legs, from rapid growth, put a teaspoonful of tincture of iron in each quart of the water. , 19. A young chick is naked, like a babe just born, the down being no protection, hence everything depends on plenty of heat. Better have the brooder too hot than too cold. lf the chicks are with hens they must have a warm, light place, as a hen can not raise chicks in winter as well as it can bo done artificially, as it is not her natural period of the year for so doing. 20. No thermometer is needed in the brooder, or under the hen. If the chicks crowd together, especially at night, they need more warmth. When they shove their heads out of the sides of the brooder ,or from under the hen, the heat is just right. Whenever the chicks do not sleep near the edges of the brooder, but get as ciose to each other as pos- sible, give them more heat, 21. When the chicks show signs of leg weakness, have clogging of the vent, and bowel disease results, there is a lack of warmth in the brooder, especially at night. The night is when the chicks meet with the greater number of difficulties. 22, When chicks have leg weakness, and the floor of the broder is very warm, the cause to too much bottom heat. Bottom heat is excellent for chicks until they are a week old, but after that time there should be only warmth enough on the floor to not have the floor cold. All warmth should come from over the chicks. They feel the warmth on the back with: more satisfaction than on any other portion of the body. , 23. When the chicks have good appetites, but have i2g weakness, the chicks move on their knees, but otherwise ap- ‘pear lively, it denotes rapid growth, and is not necessarily fatal. Follow directions in paragraph 18. 24. Feed the chicks on clean surfaces, or in litile troughs; never leave the food to ferment. Clean off the brooders and floors daily. Keep dry earth in the corner of the brooder house for the chicks to dust in. 25. When you see the chicks, busy and scratching, it is a sign of thrift. 26. A single night may ruin all. Never let the brooder beconie. cold for an hour. Once the chicks get chilled they never fully recover. 27. When the chicks seem to be continually crying it means more warmth needed. The warmth is ‘more import- ant than the food. ' 28. If the chicks are stupid, drowsy, continually ery, or have fits, look on the heads and necks, and under the wings for the latge lice. Also examine for the little red mites. ; 29. Never feed raw eorn meal to very young chicks. Crumbled stale bread is always good for them. 80. Clover hay; eut very fine, and steeped in boiling water over night, and sprinkled with corn meal slightly, fed three times a week, is excellent, but unless it is exceedingly fine the chicks can not eat it. One of the best invigorators, however, is the decoction from the clover (clover tea) given ‘in place of the drinking water occasionally, but it must be fresh and not stale. : 31. Drinking water in winter should be tepid, not cold, and always fresh and clean. 32. Feed very early in the morning, as soon as the ‘chicks come out of the brooders. Never keep them waitiig for their breakfast. Do not leave food overnight, as it may sour. Get out of bed and feed them. 33. Milk may ve given, but should be fregh and the residium carefully removed, but do not substitute it for water. Give water to the chicks from the start. Curds may ke given two or three times a week. Also fresh buttermilk. Milk, however, is not necessary where it is difficult to pro- cure. 80 SUCCESS WITH POULTRY 34. A chick should weigh a pound when five weeks old —the average is a pound at six weeks old. It should be - ready for market when eight weeks old. To fatten for mar- ket give plenty of wheat and cracked corn. 35. The White or Brown Leghorn male, crossed on Brahma, Cochin, Wyandotte, Langshan, Dorking, or Ply- mouth Rock hens, or grades, make excellent broilers. The Houdan crosses on large hens produce fine broilers. The Wyandotte and Plymouth Rock males are also éxcellent. The best results in hatching is when the Leghorn male is used. 36. Hatching should begin in October and end in April or May, but may really begin at any time. The best prices are obtained in April and May. 37. It costs five cents in food to raise one pound of chick. The cost of eggs, labor, buildings, ete., is extra. The heaviest cost is in the eggs (which are high in winter) as they often fail to hatch. : 38. Hens are better than pullets for producing broilers. The males should not be less than twelve, months old. 39.° Eggs from hens that are fat, molting hens, imma- ture pullets, or from hens in the yard with cocks having frosted combs, chilled eggs, or very small eggs, will not give good results. MARKETING POULTRY PRODUCTS Supplying-Fresh Poultry Throughout the Year to Private or Wholesale Customers—How to Reach This te and Shipping Stock. James E. Rice, in Bulletin No. 20, issued by College of Agriculture, of Cornell University, Ithiea, N. Y. LARGE part of the profits in poultry keeping de- A pends on the marketing of the products. The poultryman must be a good salesman as well as well as a good raiser of poultry. Either he must have good markets to begin with or know how to make them. High-priced trade is not found ‘‘ready-made,’’ nor can it be made ‘‘to order’’ by others, and transferred. The poultryman must make it himself. To build up a high; ‘ class trade requires time, skill, tact and high-grade prod- ucts that somebody wants and that most people will not take the trouble to supply. Such a trade is worth work- ing for. The easiest money to be made inthe poultry busi- ness, or in any other business, is the margin o fprofit re- ceived for extra quality put up in an attractive package, de- livered at the right time to the right market. This bulletin aims to discuss a few of the principles involved in the mar- keting of poultry products. ‘ Solicit the trade of the rich consumer—the nearer the producer can come to the consumer in selling his products the higher will be his prices and the greater will be the labor and expense of marketing, but it pays. The highest prices can be obtained and the largest profits are made in supplying a retail trade. This is also one of the most sat- isfactory trades to cater to and is easy to get. There are hundreds of families in every large town that are looking for the person who will furnish eggs regularly each week- the year round at a cent or two cents per dozen or more, above the retail store price. The stores in large towns and cities are frequently willing to pay several cents a dozen above the highest wholesale price for the right kind of eggs, delivered with regularity throughout. the year. But the best paying customers, whether retail or wholesale— those who are willing to pay five to ten cents per dozen above the highest wholesale quotation—are hard to secure. Such trade should be the ultimate goal to be sought by all commercial egg producers, must first be educated up to York city is about twenty-one cents per dozen. A certain highest market price. Extra Price is Clear Gain. There is a fair profit, but no mvre, in producing eggs at the regular market prices. The largest profits must come from superior marketing and from special market ad- vantages in selling eggs and stock. A difference of only a few cents per dozen makes a large increase in the in- come when several hundred fowls are kept. For example: the average highest market price per year for eggs in New York city is about twnty-one cents per dozen, A certain poultryman who has one thousand hens sold his eggs last year for an average of seven cents per dozen above the highest market. Assuming that he sold from each fowl ten dozen eggs per year, which is a fair but not a high average, we find that at seven cents per dozen he received seventy cents per hen over and above what he would have received if he had sold the eggs at the highest wholesale quotation, Therefore from his one, thousand hens he received the very comforta- ble sum of $700. ‘This was all clear-cut profit, due entirely to good business methods, neat erates, careful grading of eggs, cleanliness, quality of products and regularity of ship- ment throughout the year. Is this worth trying for? The average market price of eggs, unlike most other farm products does not vary materially:-for the same months one year from the other. The highest prices for eggs occur in December and January., The striking lesson in the study of prices is the remarkable uniformity in the price of eggs for any month during each of the seven years,. Thus the poultryman knows in advance, with practical certainty, what he will receive for his eggs month by month during the year. This is a great advantage in growing and marketing any. product. In this respect the poultryman has an advantage over the growers of apples, potatoes, hops, cheese, pork and most other farm products. When the weather is coldest the price of eggs is high- est and when the weather is warmest the price of eggs is lowést. In other words, eggs are always high in winter be- cause they are scarce, and always cheap in summer be- cause they are plenty. This gives us the hint that if we would succeed in commercial egg-production we must strive to overcome the winter conditions which retard egg-pro- duction and thus secure eggs when they will bring the high- est price. Working Up a Large, First-Class Private Trade. It is an almost universal experience in poultry-raising that ‘‘the best advertisement is a satisfied customer.’’ Trade grows by one satisfied customer recommending you to another. Poultrymen who can reach the rich guests at SUCCESS WITH POULTRY, 81 summer resorts and those who.live. in communities where Summer boarders are taken on the farms, have a good op- portunity to secure customers for eggs. Frequently a large hotel, restaurant, sanitarium, hospital, and occasionaiy large retail dealers ,will pay nearly or quite as much as private families. This wholesale trade, however, is harder to secure, but easier to serve. Making Good for Breakage. In order to adjust claims for breakage with the ex- press companies, it will be found more satisfactory to have tue purchaser pay the express charges, even if it should be necessary—which usually is not—to have the express charges deducted from the bill at the end of the month. The con- sumer will then hold the express company responsible for rough handling. The one who is on the spot and finds the eggs broken can deal directly with the man who delivered them much more easily and satisfactorily than through a third party living at a distance. With strong, handy, con- spicuously stenciled crates the breakage is not serious. If possible, avoid shipping to points where the eggs must be ‘handled by two express companies, Each company lays the breakage to the other. System in Delivery. ; It is advisable to have a regular shipping day each week, This econimizes labor by bunching the work of clean- ing, packing and delivering at the express office. simplifies the keeping of accounts. Once a week delivery will satisfy most customers. If all eggs are sold each week and the shipment lasts the customer a week, it is plainly possible that some of the eggs may be two weeks old when the last eggs are eaten. If they have been kept in a proper place, however, they should be perfectly satisfactory. By shipping to certain customers, eggs can be delivered before they are two days old, but usually this system is wholly unnecessary and multiplies the work. : Keep a Fixed Price. There are three ways of fixing the price. The first is to agree upon a single price per dozen for the year and the number of eggs to be delivered each week. The lattr clause is necessary in order to insure fairness and not leave +o either party. the temptation to take advantage of the other. This might easily be done by a dishonest purchaser who would sell eggs to outside parties when he could get more than his contract price, or to the dishonest buyer who would purchase elsewhere when he could get eggs cheaper than the contract price. The second plan is to decide upon a certain fixed per- centage increase; for example, five to fifty per cent, to be paid above the highest market quotation each week, as quoted in the wholesale market. By this sliding scale there will be less incentive for either party to the contract break- ing faith. The third plan is.to name a fixed price per dozen for the different months, varying the prices a certain number of cents, according to the demand which usually maintains at that particular season. A good scale of prices on this basis, which is being .paid to a certain poultryman, is 25 cents per dozen for April, May, June and July; 35 cents per dozen for August and September; 40 cents per dozen for October and November; 45 cents per dozen. for December and Janu- ary; 35 cents per dozen for February and March. By this system there is an incentive for the customer to eat more eggs when they are abundant and cheap and to find less fault if he should not get his full supply when they are It also. searee and high. The production of eggs for each month of the year varies with remarkable uniformity each year. In supplying the trade where the quantity of eggs to be deliv- ered each week is guaranteed, one must use his best skill to inerease the production during the months of scarcity, be- cause on those months will depend to a large extent the size of the trade which he can agree to serve during the year. A Neat Package Is a Good Investment. An attractive shipping crate has much to do with fixing the price of the product. The old saw, ‘‘Appearances are deceptive,’’ seldom applies to attractive packages of farm products. The person who will take the trouble to prepare a neat package may be depended upon to be equally careful and painstaking about the quality of the goods which he puts into it. Buyers know this instinctively. A good prod- uct is worthy of an attractive package. It is unfair to good hens that lay good eggs to put their products in a rickety shipping box. The box alone will be sufficient to put them in a class among the ordinary, every-day store eggs, thus reducing their selling price; therefore, a suitable package should always be supplied. If a shipping-box that costs only a few cents in money and a few hours in time will increase the price of eggs even a fraction of a cent per dozen, and the crates hold several dozen, not many shipments will have to be made in order to pay for the package. Then the satisfaction of knowing that a thing is done right is worth much. Everyone who has had much experience in shipping poul- try or eggs to market or for hatching, and who has used attractive boxes and coops, neatly tagged and stenciled with the name of the farm or the shipper and his address, can -give numerous instances of various orders received from people who -have been attracted by the package at the. express office or the railroad station. A neat package also insures: more careful handling because it indicates fragile contents. é A Well-Stenciled Crate is a Guarantee of Quality. It is the earmark of honesty. The man who has poor products to sell keeps his name out of sight. Every prod- uct that 1s worthy of a reputation should be ‘suitably and attractively stenciled. Attractiveness is not the only value to a stencil. A conspicuous stencil mark will save the loss of many crates in shipment, because they are less apt to be overlooked and carried by the station or put off at the wrong place. Home-Made Serviceable Crates. A good time to make the crates is on a rainy day. But, like most ‘‘rainy-day jobs,’’ it is‘ikely to be put off, and therefore may never get done. A serviceable and at- tractive crate that has withstood the test of time for ship- ping eggs to a wholesale and private trade is here described. These crates can be made at home by any person with ordinary skill. . Common standard egg-cratés are purchased at the stores for from five to fifteen cents each, including the paper fillers. Be particular to select crates which have solid ends. The material for the sides, top and bottom should be first quality, three-eights inch Georgia pine ceiling. For the bottoms of the small crates, the sides of the purchased crates can be used, if well nailed. If a thirty-dozen crate is to be made, ene side of the purchased crate should be removed, and a new side made, using the Geargia pine ceiling. Then the other side is removed and renewed; then the bottom, after which the lid is made. This is hela solid by cleats of the 82 SUCCESS WITH POULTRY ‘ same material nailed on the upper side at each end. The lid is hinged with 8-inch strap hinges and held down by a 3- inch hasp. The hinges should be screwed into the cleats in order to give greater strength. One and- one-half inch finishing nails should be used for the sides, 144 inch box nails for the bottom, and No. 4 wire tiails or screws should be used on the cleats. Cleats should be nailed across the bottom on each end to fortify and to stiffen the crate. The upper cleats serve as side handles. After the erate has been completed it should be sandpapered in order to smooth off the rough edges and the ends ,and then oiled. The crates are much neater in ap- pearance and are more easily cleaned if they are oiled and shellacked, instead of painted.. They can be made in sizes, holding multiples of three dozen each; that is, three, six, nine, twelve, fifteen, up to thirty dozen. Therefore a three dozen case would be one filler deep, a six.dozen case two fillers deep, and so on; all the crates holding up to fifteen dozen being of the same length and depth, and differing only in height. . Preparing the Product for Market. The first principle of good marketing is to have good quality to sell—quality sells itself. Few poultrymen have a right understanding of what is meant by good quality when applied to strictly fancy eggs ‘or choice dressed poul-* try, unless they have been schooled in the experience of selling products to high-priced, critical customers. A fancy egg should pe new laid; that is, not more than one week old when it is delivered to the customer. It should be free from any foreign flavor due to improper feeding or to absorption of objectionable odors. The albu- men must pe firm, for beating. The yolk must be of a rich color and not rupture in poaching, There must be no blood elots. The shell should be spotlessly lean, uniform in shape and color, hard and smooth in texture. A fancy egg must be of large size—not less than two ounces each. To pro- duce eggs of the highest quality requires skill and care.’ First, one must keep pure-bred fowls in order to secure uniformity in color, shape and size of egg. This is also true in raising broilers and roasters. There are many other ad- vantages, also, in keeping a pure breed. Second, eggs must be selected each year for hatching that fulfill all the market yequirements for strictly fancy eggs; and no others should be used. At first only a small per cent of the eggs laid by the average flock, even of pure bred fowls, can be used for hatching. Each year, however, by this rigid system ‘of se- lection, the percentage of disqualified eggs will be less and less, until even a large percentage of the first eggs from pullets can be marketed as fancy stock. -Third, care must be taken +o feed rations which contain sufficient nutriments of the right kinds to make perfectly developed eggs of good flavor and sound shell. Absence of shell-making' mater- — A deficiency of meat or * ials results in soft-shelled eggs. suitable grain will affect the firmness of the albumen. Lack of vitality in the hens will cause the membrane which sur- rounds the yolk to be weak and easily ruptured. Rough handling of the fowls will cause the follicles to burst pre- maturely and blood clots will be formed in the egg. Im- pure water or musty food will affect the odor or the flavor of the egg. An insufficient supply of yellow corn, clover and grass will cause the yolks to be light colored. Keeping Up the Supply. The poultryman who ean not get a reasonable number of eggs every month in the year can not hope to secure the highest-paying trade. Consumers, large hotels and dealers are looking for the man who can furnish them with a defi- nite, reasonable number of eggs during October, November and December. To such a one they will pay the highest. prices, and they will take his eggs all the year round; in order to have the privilege of getting them when eggs can not be obtained elsewhere at any price. These rich’ customers will not consider for a moment dealing with a producer who‘can not supply eggs during the three months mentioned. Therefore, one of the first requisites in working up a high-class trade is to be able to deliver the products regularly and continuously. Unless this can be done, one can not hope to secure much, if anything, above the regular market price throughout the year. Every Egg Should Be Spotlessly Clean. ‘A dirty egg ig a disgrace to the one who sells it. Do not blame the hens for dirty eggs; they always lay clean eggs, and they prefer to lay them in a clean place. Eggs for a first-class trade must be gathered regularly each day from nests that are especially fitted. The nests should be so placed as to be convenient for gathering. Life is too short to crawl under the barn and through the hay lofts each day to gather eggs. If there is any doubt about the freshness of the eggs, give the customer, not the eggs, the benefit of the doubt. Do not take any chances—do not sell them. One bad egg will ruin the reputation gained by selling a thousand good ones, the bad egg ‘‘unpleasantness’’ will never be forgotten even if it should be forgiven: by the customer who is paying forty to fifty cents a dozen for his eggs. As soon as the eggs are gathered they should be carried to a cool place and covered by a clean cloth so dust cannot settle. on them. A good nest is secluded and roomy and should contain an abundance of clean, soft straw and fine hay. Clover and sawdust are likely to stain the eggs. Excelsior is lumpy and sticks to the fowls’ claws. Rye straw is too coarse and stiff. Clean floors and platforms and well-drained ground will do much to keep the feet clean, and thus prevent soiled eggs. c ‘Cleaning, crating and packing eggs must be done reg- ularly and carefully. This requires considerable time, but it is time well spent- Give the children one cent a dozen to gather, clean, crate and pack the eggs. They will make good wages and you will make good profits. A damp cloth is required to rub off any slight discolorations. If it is necessary to-wet the eggs, they should be wiped dry before being placed in the crate; otherwise they will gather dust. They should not be washed unless absolutely necessary, be- cause washing destroys the natural appearance of .the shell by removing the secretion which covers the pores of the eggs and' which prevents’ rapid evaporation from the eggs. Washed eggs do not keep so well as eggs in their natural condition. Sapolio or vinegar are both useful for removing stains. A little extra care and skill in preparing poultry for market will often make a large increase in the selling price. A casual glance at the dressed poultry offered for sale in most markets will reveal the fact that much of it, which is of inferior grade might have sold for top prices it it had been properly picked’ and packed. People judge poultry by appearances. A choice, young fowl, with skin dried and torn, often looks less attractive to a purchaser than an older and poorer fowl that has been neatly picked, plumped and packed for market. The expense’ of killing, picking and packing poultry is small in comparison with the first cost of raising it. It is a pity to see good poultry that has been properly fattened, sell among the inferior grades because of careless handling. SUCCESS WITH POULTRY 83 Dry Picking. Dry picking of poultry, makes a neat looking product, but it takes more time. .The-success of dry. picking ‘de- pends largely on the stick. This can only be learned. by | practice, and the practice must be with live fowls. If pos- sible, one should see the operation performed by a skilled man, Hang.the fowl by the feet, with a looped cord, so that it will bleed freely. Hold the head in the left hand, comb downward. Open the bill until you can see the slit- in the roof of the mouth. Insert the blade of a knife in the slit and thrust it backward toward a point directly back of the eye. As soon as the brain is hit the knife should be twisted half way round, and, as it is withdrawn, should cut the’ arteries across the roof of the mouth. When the brain is hit there will be a convulsive strug- gle, or ‘‘squawk.’’ The stick will not be successful until the convulsions or ‘‘squawk’’ is produced. Picking should begin immediately with both hands, pulling the body feath- ers first, then the wing and tail feathers, hold- ing the fowl with one hand and pulling the feath- ers, with the other, As soon as the fowl is rough picked the pin feathering and finishing can be done more quickly with both hands. Special care must be taken in pulling the strip along the breast to avoid tearing. As soon as picked they should be plunged into ice-water to chill them through. The operation contracts the skiu and gives them a smoother and plumper appearance. The chilling is necessary if they are to be shipped long distances with safety. If the market requires poultry to be drawn, it should be done before chilling. A slit should be made extending from the end of the keel bone toward the vent, enough to admit the ‘fingers. Then carefully cut around the vent and draw out the intestine. Insert the fingers and detach and draw the the gizzard, heart, liver, ete. By cut- ting the gullet and windpipe at the throat the crop can usually be withdrawn without making a slit in the breast. After thoroughly rinsing the inside of the body, the ‘‘gib- lets’? should be placed inside. The fowl should then be 1 chilled. The Scalding Process of Picking. Picking chickens by the scalding process takes less time, but does not produce as satisfactory results. Success in sealding chickens depends upon the temperature of the water, the time the fowl is immersed and the care with which the feathers are removed. The water should be just below the boiling point. The fowl should be immersed and quick- _ ly withdrawn ana immersed again, in order that the hot water may penetrate, through the feathers to the skin. If the fowl is to be sold with haad and feet on, care should be taken that ‘these parts are not allowed to ‘towel the water. Scalding will destroy the natural color. The body should be immersed until the feathers ‘loosen’? up, which indicates that the skin is contracted by the heat anf that the feathers can be easily removed. Pick rapidly, but carefully. If the water is too hot, or the fowl is left in» too long, the skin may become cooked. If the water is too cool, the tender surfaces will peel, making dark, un- sightly patches; the feathers will shiek and the skin will be torn. After picking the chickens they should be dipped in the hot water for a few seconds, and then in cold water. By this treatment they will keep longer than they will if scalded in water of a low temperature. When the picking is completed the wings should be folded behind the back and then immersed in cold water. When thoroughly chilled they should be laid on boards and hung up in a cool place to dry, unless they are to be shipped long distances, in which . ¢lean' rye straw. case they should be packed in ice in layers separated by In packing, they should be laid in neat boxes side by. side, backs downward, and the order reversed with each layer, 60 that: they will be pressed in solid and retain the natural position. Careful Grading of Poultry Pays. ( All poultry should be carefully assorted according to- ‘size, color of shanks, age and condition. In other words, each grade should ke, uniform in appearance and quality. Good and poor stock should never go in the same package. The inferior will always reduce the selling price of the superior more than the good will raise the price of ‘the poor. Hach grade will sell better if sold by itself. A high- priced buyer will not want the inferior stock, at any price; therefore, if different grades are mixed, ° the good stock will have to go to the cheap buyer. : ‘Bell stock as soon as it is ready for math When poultry is once fattened and ready to kill, it is likely to deteriorate in quality if it is not marketed immediately. Unless one desires to keep the early cockerels for a special market, to sell as roasters, or to be kept for breeders, the sooner the cockerels can be sold after they weigh a pound and a quarter, the greater will be the profit. After the cockerels weigh from two to three pounds each it eosts more to produce a pound of growth. ‘The price declines faster than the increase in weight. For example, if early broilers sell for 30 cents per pound when they weigh 1% pounds each, they would sell for 45 cents; when they weigh 2 pounds each the price will prob- ably have dropped to 23 cents or less, and they would sell for 45 cents; when they weigh 3 pounds fhe price may fall to 15 centa, and they would sell for 45 cents apiece; when they weigh 4 pounds each, about Thanksgiving time, when the market is full, they might be sacrificed at 11 cents, or 45 cents each. Thus the surplus cockerels have been kept all simmer simply for the sake of their society. The loss in weight by killing is considerable. The per cent loss from live weight in killing and picking is about 10 to 12; the loss in killing, picking and drawing, with head and feet off, is 30 to 35 per cent. These figures will vary slightly with the condition of fatness and with ‘the varie- ties of poultry. The demand for dressed poultry: direct from the farm is inereasing, and should be supplied. Figure 201 shows our refrigerator crate ready for shipment. It contains 15 dozen eggs on one side, in paper fillers, and 20 pounds of dressed poultry on the other side in a galvanized iron chil- ling box. An extra refrigerator box is shown to, the left, with the close- -fitting cov .r, the partition which forms the ice chamber; also the bottom sereen which provides drainage. The partition between the ice chamber and the chickens, when packed in the crate allows a space both at the top and bottom for circulation of air, the ‘cold air settling through the ice-pack and up through the’ chickens, back into the ice-chamber again. The galvanized iron cover fits in tight, like a dinner pail cover, and is held firmly in place by the wooden cover of the shipping’ erate. During the past year eggs and poultry were shipped over 360 ‘miles in this crate during the hottest weather. During the journey. they were handled by two express companies, with a trans- fer through a large city. In every case the chickens arrived in ‘good eondition. This experiment proves clearly the wonderful opportunity which poultrymen have of supplying not only fresh eggs, but also fresh poultry, throughout the year to private or wholesale customers. This demand for properly fattened, well-dressed poultry is very large, and no particular effort has yet been made to supply it. , PEKIN DUCKS FOR PROFIT Wonderful Increase in the Business—Poultry Raising is Now a Trade—Operating Duck Egg Incubators—Proper Care of Breeding Stock—It Does Not Pay to Cross Pekins— Formula for Feeding Laying Ducks and Young Ducks’ , pi HE wonderful growth and increase of the duck busi- ness in this country during the past twenty years has been phenomenal, and although it has been multiplied many times over (and never more s0 than during the last five years), yet the demand exceeds the supply. Though the prices for dressed birds the past season have ruled a trifle lower, which was the case with all kinds of poultry, the unusually low price of grain has more than made up the deficiency. We will briefly describe our method of growing and mar- keting Pekin ducks. Though we have grown ducks more or less all our lives, principally for our own use, we started in some twenty-four years ago with thirty Pekin ducks to make it a business. From those thirty birds we grew more than fifteen hundred young birds for market, and we dis- tinctly recolleet the job we had in getting rid of them. The marketmen would look at us in surprise and say: ‘‘There is no call for that stuff. . We do not. want it.’’ Now, though growing ten times as many, we can not fill our orders from those same men, and it is not alone what we grow, but the hundreds of thousands of birds that are grown by others all over’ the country. Our methods at first were crude, and we met with some ‘losses. It was weak legs, sore eyes, hump backs and other troubles, the cause and remedy for which we finally discov- ered. Too highly concentrated food, together with too little animal food, without the proper amount and quality of grit to enable the young birds to grind and assimilate it, ac- counted for a large share of all these troubles, and are re- sponsible now for nearly all the leters with which we have been flooded the past season, all containing the same re- frain: ‘‘My ducklings are weaklegged; many of them can not stand, and are dying. They have dysentery, sore eyes and abnormal livers. What shall I do?’’ POULTRY RAISING IS NOW A TRADE. It is well known by this time that the poultry business is as much a trade as any other department in life, and a man in order to succeed must possess, at least, two traits to qualify him for the ‘business—intelligence and energy. His buildings should be neat and commodious, constructed with a view of reducing the labor to a minimum, also of securing good drainage. Above all, start in with good ‘in- cubators and good brooding appartus. Secure first-class stock to start with. Debilitated, degentrate stock will never produce healthy young birds, and it is worse than useless to hatch thousands of young birds that come into the world with enfeebled constitutions and in no condition. to live. But there are other sources of mortality aside from this, Cheap and improperly constructed incubators, with greatly varying temperature in their egg chambers, defective brooders, which mean extremes of heat and cold ~ BY JAMES RANKIN, BREEDER ‘ for the young birds—all contribute their share toward the death rate. I have never thought that the variety of food given was as responsible for the poultry growers’ troubles as the eare, cleanliness and proper control of heat in both hatching and brooding the young birds. It is\true that under proper regi- men and diet, young birds will grow faster, develop better and weigh more at a marketable age than if the food ingre- dients were not right, and the old birds will also contribute a larger number of highly fertilized eggs when the food con- ditions are right. Our food formula for ducklings in differ- ent stages of growth, also for laying and store birds, I will give later on, and confine myself now to the care and treat- ment of the birds. OPERATING DUCK EGG INCUBATORS. Highly fertilized eggs should be used, if possible, as it will mean strong ducklings and more of them. See that the heat in the egg chamber is uniform. Use accurate glasses, and place them on the eggs in the center of the egg chamber. Run them at 102 degrees the first two weeks and 103 after the animal heat begins to rise. The eggs should be cooled a little. once each day after the first week, and longer after the animal heat rises. A little moisture should be used after the eighteenth day, ventilating a little more towards the end of the hatch. Observing these rules, with a good machine and good eggs, the operator should hatch from 65 to 70 per cent of all the eggs used. : : Do not feed your ducklings till after they are thirty-six hours old. Feed four times a day and no more at a time than they will eat clean, in fact, keep them a little short, especially during confinement in inclement weather, at is is an incentive to exercise, which they néed in order to assimi- late their food. Do not put more than one hundred in a pen; seventy-five would be better. Bed the little fellows,’ until ten days old with hay, chaff or cut straw, then with sawdust (if to be had), as the latter is both a good absorb- ent and disinfectant. Keep the: pens dry and clean, both outside and in..The welfare of the ducklings depends upon this. .Be sure to give shade in warm weather. It is not necessary to keep water by them, but give all they will drink, while feeding. The birds should be read for the market at ten weeks old. Breeding birds should be selected from the early hatched birds (I always select the largest and choicest), handling every one carefully. It is true that the early hatched birds are worth more in market, but I must keep, them to breed from, as they will develop into larger and better birds than those hatched later, as the cool, temperate weather of the early spring will facilitate their growth and maturity much bet- ter than the extreme heat of mid-summer. The birds cost me more, but it is policy in the end, as they reproduce much sooner than the later ones. SUCCESS WITH POULTRY 85 PROPER CARE OF BREEDING STOCK. The birds selected for breeding should be’ turned out to pasture or in large grassy. lots, if possible, and fed on adul- terated food. By this I mean bran, Quaker oat feed, with a little meal and grit. About November 1, these birds should be yarded for winter work. The yards should have been previously prepared for their reception. About August first, after the old birds are through laying and beginning to molt, they should be taken out of the yards and turned out to pasture. The yards are turned and sowed to barley, which crop serves a double purpose—that of disinfecting the ground and giving a heavy crop of green food for the birds. This green food is cut fine and mixed in their daily rations. When the time comes to yard the birds, this crop has all been cut and the yards are in fine condition for them. These yards are dne hundred feet long and the same width as the pens in the building. Whenever we have room, the yards are run out fan-shaped, which of course makes them larger. Our green food now consists of green rye, obtained in the way described. As fast as our yards are emptied of ducklings, they are turned and sowed quickly to rye as this is a crop which resists winter’s frosts. We now have about two acres of this rye, a perfect mass of green, about eighteen inches high. This largely constitutes our green food for winter. Just before a snow storm we cut large quantities of it and pile in up in a frozen state in some shady place, where it can be drawn upon at will. Should this supply be exhausted while the ground is covered with snow, we always have several tons of fine clover rowen, sues: for the purpose. This, with afew hun- dred heads of refuse cabbage, carries us through in good shape. I dwell particularly.on this green food, because it is one of the necess‘ties for the production of strong, highly fertilized eggs. Every one knows how necessary green food is for hens during winter confinement, yet it is even more essential for ducks. I now mix 15 per cent of this green rye, cut fine, with other food. IT DOES NOT PAY TO CROSS PEKINS. I am often asked if crossing-the Pekin with other birds will not produce a better market bird than the thorough- breds. In reply, will say, that I have crossed. the Pekin it every conceivable way with other breeds, with an eye to se- euring a better market birds, but with unsatisfactory results. The birds either came out with weakened constitutions, were longer maturing and had dark pin feathers or unsightly blotches on the skin. This experience has more than ever convinced me that there is nothing, as yet, in the shape of a duck that ‘will supercede the Pekin as a market bird. There is no bird that is under better control or that will respond sooner to generous.food and care than the Pekin duck. Her fecundity is wonderful. Not even the far-famed Minorca or Leghorn can compete with her as an egg producer, Begin- ning, if you wish, at four and one-half months old, she will contribute her quota of one egg per day, with but little inter- mission, for nearly ten months, and as egg-producers for market alone she is more profitable than the hen. There is not a day in the year that we are without duck eggs. When ‘the old birds begin to molt and are barren, the younger ones commence their work: I will now give my methods and formulas for feeding the young birds (at different stages of growth) for eggs, also for breeding birds. FORMULAS FOR FEEDING DUCKS. For Breeding Birds (Old and Young During the Fall.)— Feed three parts wheat bran, one quart Quaker oat food, or oatmeal, ground oats (or other substitute), one ‘part corn- . ‘meal, five per cent of beef scraps, five per cent of grit, and all the green food they will eat, in the shape of corn fodder (cut fine), clover, or odt fodder. Feed this mixture twice a day, all they will eat. For Laying Birds.—Equal parts of wheat bran and corn- meal, twenty per cent of Quaker oat food, ten per cent of boiled turnips or potatoes, fifteen per cent of clover rowen, green rye or refuse cabbage, chopped fine, five per cent of grit.’ Feed twice a day all they will eat, with a bunch of corn and oats at noon, Keep grit and oyster shells con- stantly by them. For Feeding at Different Stages of Growth.—The first four days feed equal ‘parts of rolled oats and cracker or bread crumbs, ten per cent of hard boiled eggs, chopped fine, five per cent coarse sand. Feed four times a day, what they will eat up clean. Brooder heat, ninety degrees. When four days to three weeks old, feed equal parts of rolled oats and wheat bran, ten per cent corn meal, five per cent coarse sand, five per cent of fine ground beef cornmeal, wheat bran and Quaker Oat food five per cent of scraps soaked, finely cut clover hay, rye or cabbage. Feed four times a day. Brooder heat from eighty-five to seventy- five degrees, When from three to six weeks old, feed equal parts of fine grit, five per cent of beef scraps. Mix in green food. Feed four times a day. When from six to eight weeks old, feed three parts corn meal, two parts wheat bran, one part Quaker oat food, ten per cent of beef scraps, five per cent of grit. Feed three times a day. When from eight to ten weeks old, feed two-thirds corn- meal, one-third equal parts of wheat bran and oat food, ten per cent, of beef scraps, five per cent of grit, oyster shells and less green food. Feed three times a day. They should now be ready for market. We never cook the food for our ducks after they are a week old, but mix it with cold water. I wish to emphasize several points again. Do not for- get the grit; it is absolutely essential. Never feed mora than a little bird will eat clean. Keep them a little hungry. See that pens and yards are sweet and clean, for though dueklings may stand more neglect than chicks, remember that-they will not thrive in filth. If anyone fails in this business, it must be through his own incompetency and neg- lect. ~ With us, it ig the surest crop we can grow. Independent -of the elements, affected neither by floods nor drouths, heat nor cold, a concentrated cash product turned every three months, it makes the best returns of any crop on the farm. JAMES RANKIN, Massachusetts. CARING FOR DUCKLINGS. BY GEORGE H. POLLARD. : In response to your request that we give you a few ideas concerning our methods of feeding,and raising Pekin ducks, we feel it is right we should first explain that we do not raise so many, many thousands yearly; that there are others who raise as good, and if we should stop they would doubt- legs continue ta successfully raise them. We find in raising ducks there are five esentials—musele, water, food, shade and grit—and the greatest of these is muscle. Any one ‘who has tried it will cheerfully testify to this truth. In feeding and raising young ducks, begin with the breeding- stock. Strong, vigorous breeders mean healthy, wide-a-wake duck- lings, needing a minimum of attention and easily raised. 86 ‘SUCCESS WITH POULTRY This being the case, we-give the breeders a large grass range, with plenty of shade’ and running water—believing nature webbed their feet for a' purpose—though they can be successfully raised without thé water. To each five ducks allow one drake and mate about thirty in a pen. Later in the season, abont the middle of May, remove one drake from each pen. Feed night and morning what they will eat of a mixture of three parts. each of Indian meal and wheat bran, one part each low. grade flour and. beef seraps, making: sure it is beef scraps and: not a poor‘quality of fertilizer, the whole salted slightly: and thoroughly mixed, not too wet, ‘with cold water., Never cook the food, except in winter, when it may be mixed with hot water. -Do not feed at noon, as ducks on good grasg,range do- mot need it. Jf without grass range, feed-all the, green food they will eat each day— fodder corn,. rye, grass,,glover, - or anything they will eat. Have water in pails or -tzpaghs convenient: to feeding places at all times of the.day amd night, also oyster shell and grit, and do not forget.the shado,..they must have it. In winter vary the,faaq@ by, a liberal allowance of boiled turnips, mashed in with gram, say one-third turnips, every other morning, and iwth ‘cabbage chopped -fine or other green. food that can be obtained, fed at noon. . After hatching which we do altogether with incubators, leave the ducklings quiet from twenty-four to thirty-six hours, according to the season when hatched, after, which they may be put in a brooder heated from ninety to ninety- five degrees in the center of the hover—ninety-five degrees in winter—placing each carefully under the hover. The food is prepared of- two-thirds wheat bran and one- third Indian meal, wet to a crumbly mass with milk, either skimmed or whole, ‘put not eooked. Cover floor under hover with chaff, or fine shavings, and in front of the hover, for two or three feet, with fine gravel or sand. Six or eight in- ches from front of hover place small troughs or. dishes con- taining food—slightly sprinkled with sand the first time—- and a fountain of lukewarm water. The fountains are gal- vauized iron cans, eight inches in diameter and twelve in- ches deep inverted in tin pans ten inches in diameter and two inches deep, and the water is kept near the top of the pan. After all this, simply keep the ducklings warm and let nature work. If they are worth raising they will gradu- ally get out from under the hover, and it is astonishing how quickly. they will begin to stow away the food and water. Beyond watching for the first few hours that none get away from the hover and become chilled, do not fuss with them and do not try to fill them up with boiled eggs and bread -erumbs. Keep food and water before them all thé time for i.e first three days—and water all night( sure—after which they may be fed every three hours till seven or eight days old, when four or five feeds a day will be enough. After the fifth day they are generally alive to stay, or are dead, and they tay be fed five per cent beef scraps instead of milk, or both At two weeks old make their feed of one-half meal, one-half bran and ten per cent beef scraps, which may be increased to fifteen per cent scraps, with three parts each of bran and meal and one part flour at three weeks. Carry them on this food until killing time—ten to eleven weeks—not changing for any heavier or more fattening food, as advised by many. After the fifth week feed only three times a day. Feed green food or not, as is most convenient. If intended for breeding, it will be good-for them, but is un- necessary for market ducks. ‘ For best results, yard in flocks of from fifty to seventy- five,and give plenty of yard room, never less than thirty by: ‘fifty feet; for fifty birds five weeks old or over. In short, ‘keep only healthy, vigorous breeding stock. Have shade and an unfailing supply of water and grit. Feed all they. can be made to eat, at regular intervals, and do not skimp the meat scraps. Kill at ten or eleven weeks old and receive the reward promised for work well done. GEORGE H. POLLARD. STARTING WITH STANDARD BRED POULTRY Opinions of Well-known and Experienced Specialty Breeders on How Best to Start to Establish Oneself in the Standard-bred Poultry Business—Buy Stock and Save Time” is the General Advice—Follow One Line of Breeding and Place no Reliance on Haphazard Matings. (The following is our symposium on ‘‘Starting With Standard-bred Poultry.” The advice here given is in response to the question, “If you did not own a fowl, but knew what you did to-day, how would you proceed to again establish yourself in the standard-bred poultry business?” This inquiry was sent to about twenty-five prominent poultrymen who year after year produce birds that are winners at the foremost shows of the country, both in their own hands and in the hands of their customers. This subject was taken up with a view of helping the beginner, for it is by noting the experience of others, and théir success along certain lines, that the men and women about to enter on this work may get a right start and “go right’ until they too achieve success.—Editor. ) " [Prom the Reliable Poultry Journal.) Buy Eggs or Stock from an Expert Breeder. 1f the variety I wish to breed were not difficult to mate J should start with eggs from the best breeder I knew of, buying his best eggs and not quibbling about the price. I should buy enough to be sure of a goodly number of chicks, ‘and one year after I would stand side by side with him in quality of stock. Then each year for a time I should buy eggs or birds as occasion demanded and never go out- side of his breeding for new blood. Then I should line breed my own stock, ‘‘inbreeding’’ if you. please to call it that. If the variety I selected were difficult to mate and breed and it were new to me, I should be governed by the amount of money I could invest, having in view the time I could af- ford to wait and devote to personal experiments. If I could afford it I should go to the best breeder of my chosen variety and buy a pair, a pen, or a yard of his best breeding birds, mated by him, as he would mate for his own breeding pur- poses. If he were honest I would thus get his ideas of how the variety should be mated; I would get the results of his years of experience at a great saving of time. I should not rush after his most expensive show birds unless I wanted to exhibit at once, If I wanted to exhibit I would buy exhibi- tion birds for that purpose and choice breeding stock tv breed. There is no time for, nor is it pertinent to your inquiry, to go into the whys or wherefores of this. Having the few birds I could afford to buy as an object . SUCCESS WITH POULTRY 87 lesson, I should then buy eggs of the breeder each year as long as I thought I needed them and so keep tab on his mat- ings and his way of doing things as well as on my own way. With each purchase I should stand side by side with him, having immediate representatives of his improvements to compare with my own work. Thus, at a small outlay I would get the results of his years of patient labor and could adopt his way of doing things and at the sanic time see the results of my own way. I should try to better all his improvements if I could, and should have as good as he had direct from him, if F could not surpass him. This is a brief outline of the way I should build up a strain of my own. H. 8. BURDICK, New York. Would Start With Stock—One Variety and Cull Closely. If I wished to establish myself in the standard-bred poultry business and knew what I know now I should pur- chase stock in preference, to eggs. I tried ‘about. ten or twelve-years ago to establish myself through the egg route, but for me it’ was a failure. I should purchase the birds in the fall preceding the spring I intended breeding them, as first-class breeding birds can be bought cheaper at that time. I should visit the yards of several first-class breeders and exhibitors, selecting birds from the one that suited me best. I should buy males and females from the same yard if I could find what I wanted; if I could not get the male and females from the same yard I should get a male from the yard that came nearest in type,.shape and color to the one from which I got my females., I should expect to pay a good price for the birds as breeders will not part with their best birds at small prices. From this pen I should establish my strain, introducing now and then a male from the yard or one of the yards from which I purchased my first birds.’ Situated as I am now where my birds are raised’ on farms from five to ten miles apart, the introduction of a fresh male is not necessary: un- der every three years. I should select one variety, as I have found from experience that one is enough for any breeder who wishes to be on top. Stick to one variety until it is a success. One should never quit anything until he makes it a success. It some times comes hard and high, but it is worth having when it does come and it is appreciated all the more. | I should subscribe for a first-class poultry paper, buy a copy of the American Standard and read everything I could find on the variety chosen, as every one has some good ideas and no one has them all, hence by reading only part I might miss something good. I should pay close attention to the small things—the large ones will take care of themselves— and should be careful in filling orders, always giving more than the money’s worth, rather than less. And last, but not least, I should cull the flock closely, as show birds do not come from poor parents. K. §. TRIMBLE, Kentucky. Time is Too Valuable to Lose in Experimenting. By looking over the countless number of advertisements in the leading poultry journals one realizes how difficult it is for a beginner to decide of whom to purchase. It is a truism that ‘‘Experience is the best teacher,’’ and it. is never better exemplified than in the poultry business. If by accident or any other cause I should be deprived of my entire flock, I would turn to the best breeder for a new start —one with long experience, a reputation for fair dealing, and whose show record is unexcelled. A fancier who has shown successfully tor many years must surely understand the bus- iness in every detail and in order to win a long list of prizes ‘ annually he certainly must have valuable stock. I should purchase of such a party, a few good birds, also eggs from his different matings, thus obtaining the benefit of his long experience. The following season I would procure from the same party such birds as I needed to strengthen and build up my flock. Out and ont crossing is largely experi- mental, often disastrous, and should be practiced with care upon only a portion of the flock. By careful infusion of new blood, weak points may be eliminated and greater perfection obtained. WILLIAM F. BRACE, New York. Would Buy Line-Bred Stock. So much has been written on the subject of standard- bred poultry, it would seem that the work were complete. On the other-hand we find the demand for standard-bred poultry greater today than it ever has been. To those about to start, tnis question presents itself: ‘‘How shall I pro- ceed??? I would answer, if you are able, place your order with some good breeder that has bred his birds in line for years. Tell him what you want and the results will be highly satisfactory. If I were to start again in breeding it would be by buying stock. Still we have cases where the beginner has been successful in buying eggs, in some cases the start being a single sitting of eggs. W. A. IRVIN, Nebraska. Eggs from a Dozen or More Breeders. If I did not have any poultry and wished to establish a strain of any of the standard breeds, I should buy eggs of a dozen or more breeders of the variety selected, and have them all hatched about the same time. This stock would be the starting point of my strain. This may be a rather short answer to your question, but it covers the ground as I have it in my mind. : ROWLAND G. BUFFINGTON, Massachusetts. Buy.Line-Bred Males and Females of One Breed. If it were Barred Plymouth Rocks that I expected to breed, I should start by buying stock in the winter, or eggs in the spring. I should prefer buying stock, although I know many breeders of reputation today who started by buying eggs. I should buy my stock or eggs of a breeder of reputation, not only one having a reputation for breeding winners, but with a reputation for honesty and truthfulness as well. I should also expect of him that he practice double mating and had bred in line for years. I ‘should want both males and females from the same strain. W. S. RUSSELL, Iowa. Starting a Strain With One Pair—Inbreeding. This question is a practical and very interesting one and will tend to bring out valuable information that has been gained with ‘‘much tribulation,’’ hard knocks, worry, and in most cases, much expense. What I shall say pertains to Barred Rocks. I ‘‘know’’ no other breed.. Under the cir- cumstances named, I should start as far from the ‘‘lower tung’’ as possible. If I knew a breeder who had fine birds and would sell eggs from his best, I should buy 50 eggs if possible for his pullet line and an equal number from his cockerel line. -Then I should mate the very best pair raised from each line ,and from this pair start my lines. I believe that no one will ever start a uniform and meritorious strain, except from one pair, then follow the ‘‘line’’ and out-cross very cautiously by infusing new blood, one-half at a tinie, through the females. Inbreeding hurts neither the vitality, nor the egg yield, if only the strongest and most vigorous 88 SUCCESS WITH POULTRY birds are used for breeding. There is a flock of fowls on a farm near me, in which there has not been a drop of new blood for fifty-eight years, and they look as much.alike as peas. There has never been a diseased bird in this flock, and they are simply wonderful as layers, both in winter and summer. If I could not buy eggs in which I had confidence I should buy where I had confidence in both the’ breeder and’ his stock, a pair each of pullet mating and cockerel mating, on which to found my strain, and I should buy as fine pairs as I could possibly afford. I should much rather pay $100 for two pairs that were worth the money than to get for the same money twenty birds that were only worth $100. I sometimes think that we double-mating ad- vocates make a mistake in advocating this method,.as the single mating breeders make excellent customers. I say nothing of mating, as I take it for granted that a breeder ° of ten to twenty years’ experience knows what to do with the ‘‘good ones’? when he has them. W. B. GIBSON, Pennsylvania. Try Two or Three Different Lines of Blood. If I had no fowls and desired to start again in the breed- ing of Barred Plymouth Rocks I should buy a few breeding pens of different strains and eggs of the breeders that I thought had the best. By getting eggs and stock from two or three different lines of breeding I would be surer of get- ting a good start, for if the eggs or stock from one did not, . prove as expected, those from another probably would. My idea would be to spend considerable in stock and eggs at the start, for I would of course desire to have a good stock on “hand for the next year’s breeding. I speak of buying eggs. You will understand by this that I mean in case the proposed beginning were in the spring; if in the fall I should buy stock and then supplement this by oraering eggs in the spring. Regarding mating the progeny, I would use the judgment I have acquired by my long experience, in some cases mating birds of the same line of breeding, in other cases using some other blood, or per- haps a direct cross. I would order stock or breeding pens mated for cockerels and others for pullets and others for general mating. I should not chance too much on one tyne until well started. After a year or two I would get the different lines and strains of birds well sorted out and sifted down, keeping only what would do me good, discarding all the rest. E. B. THOMPSON, New York. Buy from a Specialist. I should select one or two of the leading varieties of fowls, such as would best please my fancy. Then I should look around for a re..able breeder who made a specialty of such breeds, one in whom I could place confidence. Espec- ially would I want to get my start from one who had a large experience in the breeding of such fowls, as I consider culls from an experienced breeder better than the best virds from the yards of one who changes breeds each year, buying his stock from anywhere and breeding in a chance way. Nor would I ever ak of buying from a man who has from ten to sixty varieties of fowls, and if the breeder from whom I should decide to purchase would be willing to sell me eggs from his best matings then I should start with eggs, but not with one or two sittings. Too many persons look for more than they should expect from a sitting or two of eggs. The fancier who will treat his customers right’ when he promises to sell from his best yards and does what he promises, gives his customers a chance to get a good start — in a variety at a comparatively small cost. We have practiced this within the past two years, hav- ing purchased over $100 worth of Buff Rock eggs from one ‘breeder. We select the best birds each year for our breed- ing yards, and breed up to standard points and our own , ideas, thus establishing a strain of our own. We would also say to those who start in. the fancy, live up to the ‘‘Golden Rule,’’ treat your customers right, do an honorable and square business, and your old customers will come back and new ones will be added from day to day. Never make any misstatements in your advertisements, but stick to facts, and you will succeed. AUG. D. ARNOLD, Pennsylvania. Advantages of Buying Stock—Quality Not Quantity. If I were not in and wanted to establish myself in the standard-bred poultry business, knowing all that I know know from so. many years of personal experience, I should decidedly start with stock of the very best of its variety obtainable from some old established strain. Many persons eonsider buying eggs by far the cheapest’ method to get a start. It is cheap in one sense, and on the other hand a ‘¢dear way,’’ if experience and years of one’s life are of value. With stock you have something at once to study and become familiar with—shape, color, and other standard requirements, gaining knowledge that will guide in after years to quickly distinguish the value of sectional qualities iw a bird. In the progeny raised from eggs bought generally appear so few good specimens that the next year really you have only an indifferent lot to select from for the coming year’s matings and have no intelligent knowledge of how they should be mated for best result. To the progeny raised from these you must necessarily look for the stock on which your reputation is to be gained as a breeder. Now, you are in the second year, aS you may say— stranded, as you do not know how to mate to produce the best specimens of the breed you have in your yards to reach, the position in view in the poultry world. This is the point so many reach and give up discouraged, and here it is that the breeder who bought A’ No. 1 stock is in the lead. Hoe is years in advance in knowledge and is already pretty well established. Paying liberal prices for the best gives tone to the breeder and his stock, and, too, he is advertised from friend to stranger. Such breeders are consequently soon known, and thus come in touch with the best ‘breeders in the country. Starting right establishes your reputation. Al- ways bear in mind quality; quantity is ruinous without qual- ity to any breeder. J. D. WILSON, New York. Buy Eggs or Birds from Standard Matings. If I were out of the poultry business, with the knowl- edge I have gained in the past sixteen years, and wished to again start, I believe I should either buy eggs or buy a breeding pen of some breeder who does not advise special matings. Iam sick and tired of the so-called special, double or whatever you may term them, matings. Give me stand- ard matings every time, or as near to it as you can get each year. The first eight or ten years of my experience as a breeder I bought eggs of fanciers who advertised eggs from prize matings at $10 per forty. The fowls that produced. these eggs were bred by special matings and looked well enough, but what did I get? A fine lot of market chickens —culls. This somewhat discouraged me. Next season I bought a pen of birds. They looked nice when they ar- rived and I anticipated fine results, but when fall arrived _ breeder mate them as he thought best. SUCCESS WITH POULTRY 89 instead of having prize winners I again had disappointing results—a lot of culls, and as long as we continue this double or special mating system the same results will follow. Buying eggs is the cheapest way to get a good start, provided you can buy eggs from,fowls bred from standard ‘matings. I am not attacking double or special mating breed- ers to injure their busines, but to compel them to breed ac- cording to standard, so that their customers can rely on the breeding of the fowls or.eggs purchased. . My efforts to get better birds each year have been rewarded since I got away from that old theory of special mating. ‘0. F.- SKINNER, Kansas. Start With a Pair or Trio. First I should determine the. ‘preed I wanted, then I should select some reliable breeder and give him to under- stand just what I wanted. I should buy the best he had to sell and that I could afford. If I had but little money I should not buy more than a pair or a trio and have the If I found -he was doing the right thing by me I should stay with him and secure new blood from him from time to time, as I thought my flock needed it. My preference would be to introduce the new blood through the female line, as I do not like to break: the male line, if it can possibly be avoided. My advice to a beginner is, not to see how little he can put into a pair or trio, but how much. After one becomes familiar with a breed and knows a good bird when he sees it, he can afford to buy eggs, for he may secure some very choice birds at very little cost. But to sum the whole matter up, buying stock has always been more satisfactory to me, and I have bought largely of both from breeders of national reputation. Another point I would suggest is, do not breed too many varieties. .One will give most any breeder all he wants to do to produce birds good enough to go into the show room with any degree of success in carrying off the prizes. Do not be in too much of a hurry. It takes time— you will have to crawl before you can ‘walk, and some- times you will find that your foot. goes backward instead of forward. Do not let this discourage you, it belongs to the business, and the best of them have had the same ex- perience. . Attention, patience and industry are what it takes to succeed. . E. 0. SUTTON, Missouri. To Establish a Strain of Barred Rocks. If F did not own a fowl but: knew what I think I know today, I should proceed to establish myself in the standard; bred poultry business again as soon as possible. The first and most necessary thing to secure is a good location and buildings; next, to decide on the variety or varieties. After an experience of over twenty years with nearly all of the most popular breeds and varieties, I should keep only one variety, and that of course would be the Barred Plymouth Rocks. Having made a selection of the variety, I should look for the breeder who could come nearest to supplying my wants. Of course I should wish to purchase of a breeder who has a record in the show room, and I should wish also to buy of one who has a record with his eustomers—a record of honesty and a willingness to part with some of his good stock. I believe that there are breeders who are so much ‘afraid of losing prestige in the show room that they keep all their good stock .and eggs for themselves. Having found a breeder who is willing to divide the best with his customers, I should next size up ‘‘the pile’’ that I wished to invest. Should this be less than $100, I should start with eggs instead of stock, as I believe that for any amount less than this a better quality of stock can be obtained by buying eggs than in any other way. Should I wish to invest $50 or $75 I should write to the man of whom I wished, to purchase and ask him to send me as many eggs of his very best as that amount would purchase. I should take particular pains to impress it on him that it was qual- ity rather than quantity that I wanted. I should also state that I wished them half from cockerel matings and half from pullet matings, and I should ask that they be sent from two pens of each, marked so that I might be able to mate the cockerels of one with the pullets of the other in the cockerel matings, and the same in the pullet matings. Let us suppose that the breeder in question should send me two hundred eggs, and that from that number I succeed in raising one hundred chicks. I would select the best cock- erel from pen A for cockerel and mate him to ten of the best pullets from pen B for cockerels. Then I would select the best cockerels from pen B and mate him to ten of the best pullets from pen A. This would give me two pens mated for exhibition cockerels the second year, and if these birds were line bred, as they should be, they should in this manner produce a good percentage of exhibition cockerels. With the pullet matings I should follow the same plan. I should select the ten best pullets raised from eggs marked pen C and to these should mate the best cockerel from pen D; thn'I should seleet the best pullet bred. cockerel, from pen C to mate with the ten best pullets from pen D. This would give me forty-four birds selected from one hundred raised, and with a proper knowledge of matings these birds should give me a good foundation for my future strain. On the other hand, should I not be limited for capital, I should visit the yards ‘of the same breeder and select two pens of the best birds he would sell me, one mated for cock- erels and the other for exhibition pullets. This plan would give me a little better start in stock at the end of the first year perhaps, ‘that is, give me a iarger number of birds to sell or keep over. In this case the male birds could be mated to ten of their best pullets and the best cockerel trom each mating could be mated with the original pen of females. % For the person who is limited as to capital I believe it to be far cheaper and easier to start by buying eggs. M. S. GARDNER, New York. Good Stock More SatiSfactory Than Eggs. The purchasing of stock or eggs should, in my opinion, be governed entirely by one’s means. If capital be limited, . eggs seem +o offer the easier way to get establishd, al- though I believe the purchase of stock to be the better plan, and far mor satisfactory to both buyer and seller. It en- ables the buyer to know positively just what quality of stock he 1s breeding from ,and the satisfaction derived from it is far greater than from eggs, even though the chicks from the latter prove to be the equal of those bred from stock. Knowing what I now know, if I were to start anew in the poultry business, I should do precisely as I did years ‘ago, namely, purchase A No. 1 breeding stock. and breed it to the highest state of perfection possible. This, of course, is a somewhat slow and tedious process, but one that is bound to be uccessful in the end, in fact it is the sure route to successful breeding. DR. F. M. ROBINSON, New York. ‘ x x CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF TURKEYS From Shell to Market—Care of Adults—Setting the Hens—Care of Poults—Feeding for Market —Preparing Fine Specimzns for Exhibition. BY MRS, S. N. KING, BREEDER T°: first and greatest requisite to successful poultry raising is strong, vigorous stock. Whatever variety may be selected, be sure that your birds have not been weakened by disease nor by repeated inbreed- ing. Many persons engaged in this business select their best’ stock, male and female, year after year, and after a few years of this close inbreeding find their flock deteriorated in stamina, and with slight powers of resistance against the encroachments of disease. Their birds may be beautiful as the type is more easily fixed by use of the same family, but the chances are against a large per cent of the poults «hatched reaching maturity.’ On the other hand, a change of family or infusion of new blood every year is not necessary. If you have a male bird that is satisfactory, it is quite safe and desirable to ase him two years, keeping the finest of the pullets, but avoid using a young tom and pullets of the same flock. Always breed in line of descent. In seldeting stock do it with a view to shape and color, rather than weight. My experience has proved to me. that abnormally large birds are very unprofitable and disappoint-. ing, except for show birds. A young tom weighing from from twenty-five to. thirty pounds and an adult weighing from thirty-six to forty are as large as can be used without danger of injury to the hens. Young hens weighing fifteen to eighteen pounds and adults eighteen to twenty are more prolific and better mothers than those attaining a much greater size. Hens weighing twenty-five pounds are not re- liable for a full clutch of eggs. They usually lay a few at irregular intervals and in different places, as though it were a matter of unconcern to them whether their eggs were cared for or not. These eggs are frequently soft-shelled and infertile, so that they can not be depended on to add greatly to one’s flock. One tom and ten females is a good number for a flock but if it is desirable to keep a greater number of females, two toms can be used, keeping one in a,small yard each ai- ternate day, letting the hens have their liberty, as they need the range and variety of food which they obtain in that way, and which they would not eat if it were given to them in a yard. TURKEYS REQUIRE RANGE. Turkeys are impatient of restraint and will neither eat nor lay well when deprived of liberty. One spring we built an ‘‘ideal’’ turkey yard and I fondly hoped that the prec- ious hours spent in watching the turkeys to their nests could be used to better advantage in other ways. We have a grove of maple trees in our chicken yard—planted many years ago, to afford shelter for my chickens. The rows of trees are twelve feet apart and we enclosed a space between two rows with a base board and six-foot wire net- ting. This we covered with two widths of the netting, fastening the edge of the side netting and securing the mid- dle by guy ropes or wires attached to the branches of trees. At one end we had a door, also covered with netting, so that it was as nearly as possible ‘‘out of doors.’’ We placed barrels on their sides, half filled with straw, putting an egg in each, and it was so delightfully ‘‘inviting’’ that I felt quite sure my turkeys would feel at home immediately, but it was a vain expectation. BHvery morning they walleed ito their new park as if they thoroughly enjoyed it and seemed vontent till 3 or 4 o’clock, when they would gather around the door wishing to come out, but lay in those ready-made nests they would not, except, perhaps, three or four, that laid an egg apiece. I finally learned that they had nests of their own, selected under brush piles and among corn fodder, and as soon as they were released they went to them, so I abandoned the plan that seemed so feasible and found that « boy with sharp eyes, in anticipation of a coin for every turkey nest found, was more satisfactory and prac- ticeable than my fine new ‘‘summer house,’’ and thus we learn by our mistakes, though they are often humiliating and not always stepping stones to better things. I find that very early laying in this latitude (40 degrees north) is not to be desired, as many of the eggs are liable to be chilled and poults can not be hatched to advantage before the 10th of May. Sometimes we have a cold, rainy season even later than that and little turkeys seldom live through a protracted, cold storm. I think the hens are less apt to lay early if the quantity of feed is lessened as the severity. of winter decreases, Another objection to very early laying is that it in- duces late laying as well aud a hen will frequently leave her brood when partly grown in order to raise a second fam- ily, which is fatal to the interests of both, as the first poults need a leader and protector until nearly full grown and the last are too small to endure the cold weather. In her native state the turkey hen does not lay till spring is assured and never deserts her progeny; so with our cultivation and civili- zation we sometimes get too far away from mother nature. If your hens are to act as brooders never clip their wings. They will need them in protecting their young from rain and dew. There is great diversity of opinion as to the best way to raise young turkeys, but after an experience of twenty years I am unqualifiedly in favor of the turkey hen as a mother. WHERE TURKEYS WILL SIT. It is generally supposed that turkeys must sit where they have selected a nest in which to deposit their eggs, but as they frequently choose a place wholly unsuited to the pur- pose of incubation, either on account of location or because other hens 1ay in the same nest, it is often desirable to move them to other quarters. A few years ago I attempted to have them sit ‘in barrels (laid on their sides near a fence) when their own selection was objectionable, but utterly failed to induce them to return to their barrels after leaving them for feed and water, although they would remain con- SUCCESS WITH POULTRY 91 tentedly enough until hunger again sent them forth. Last summer seven or eight of my hens found a large brush pile wonderfully well suited to them, but as it afforded scant protection from the sun or rain, I was obliged to change their location as each was ready to sit, and I experienced as little trouble as I do in moving my domestic hens to the ‘hatching house. ” Fortunately | we had an unused barn withvut partitions and with an earth floor, which was readily converted into a ‘‘turkey house.’’ In one of the corners of this barn was placed a barrel, on its side, in which was plenty of cut straw and a nest-egg.. Over the opening I hung a blanket, and at dark had the broody turkey brought to the nest. After ‘dusting ner thoroughly with insect powder she was carefully put into the barrel, and as soon as she became quiet the blanket was removed. In the meantime the true nest was -made in a large and rather shallow box (1 used soap’ boxes), with the date on which the eggs were due to hatch marked with crayon in large figures, so that they need not be un- necessarily disturbed. When the hen came out of the har-' rel, which was. usually the next morning, she soon found the nest full of eggs, which she at once appropriated. The barrel served as a ‘‘trap’’ for the whole season, as only one or two hens had nests outside that were in safe and comfortable places. Sometimes there were nests all around the room, but I had no trouble about their crowding each other on the nests or trying to exchange. It was necessary to keep feed, fresh water and grit constantly supplied, but although the ground was spaded up for them there was no evidence of their taking a ‘‘dust bath,’’ as they do when sitting out. This made it necessary to use insect powder plentifully. As it was difficult to remove them from the nests without endangering the eggs, I sprinkled it liberally on and around the eggs whenever I found a hen off her nest. I also dusted the hens as they were sitting. Each time that I set a turkey I also put turkey eggs under a domestic hen and gave all the poults to the turkey. I find twenty-five a good number for a turkey hen, as she can keep them dry, when a larger number would be more or less exposed to damp- ness in case of rain or heavy dew. Before giving the poults to the mother, it is well to dust her thoroughly along the back and on the outside of the wings, but not on the inside, as the powder is too strong to be inhaled by the newly hatch- ed poults. It seems to me the most important thing in the care of young turkeys is to put them at once on grass, anl for that reason very early hatching is not desirable. ; When I began raising them I was advised to give each poult a grain or berry of black pepper as its first meal, to insure its future welfare, but it seemed so unnatural that I[ declined to follow that instruction. Since then as I have watched them, when less than forty-eight hours old, care- fully selecting the seed pods from ‘‘ pepper grass,’’ in prefer- ence to-blue grass or any other green food, I have wondered if there was not a good reason for what seemed to me only a ‘fnotion.’? For mauy years-I have selected a sunny spot and had a triangular yard made (by using three wide boards) in which to keep the flock for a few days, or until the poults were strong enough to run well, but this was not satisfac- tory. The grass soon lost its freshness and the mother would almost invariably refuse to go under the shelter pro- vided for her. In case of rain her feathers would be wet and the little ones would become draggled, a condition fatal to young’poults. Of late years I have found it much more satisfactory to provide a large coop in which the mother can walk about comfortably and give the little ones free range. For this purpose I ‘selected a spot under a large tree where there will be partial protection from sun and rain. It is surprising to see how soon the poults wander some distance — from the coop in search of food, always, however, reniainiag — within call of the mother’s voice and quickly responding to - her warning of danger. When she gives this particular note’ every poult will drop where it is and remain until released by her assurance of safety. : The first food for poults, which didald, not. ‘be given un-” til they are twenty-four hours old, has beén a matter’ of con- siaerable experiment with me, but I have no success in feed- ing hard boiled eggs, though highly recommended by many. I have tried them for both chicks and poults but always with unsatisfactory results. I have found that the best feed for two or three weeks is stale bread soaked in sweet milk and then squeezed dry, alternating with curd or cheese made from sour milk. ; To the cheese, which should not be cooked hard, but, should be well drained, I add salt and a little. black pepper. lt is well to give occasionally a little coarse corn meal slightly dampened, and onion tops. and dandelion stems or 2 pepper grass cut fine, but never give sloppy food. After two or three weeks I add well-boiled wheat to the cheese, but. great care should be taken that it is not allowed to sour, which it does quickly in very warm weather. I place the | moist food on a ‘clean board and from the first I frequently scatter a spoonful of rolled oats near the coop for them to | find, Water should be given in shallow dishes, and it, ig a good plan to lay a float or board in the dishes, two inches , smaller in diameter than the top of the dish, to prevent the. . poults standing in the water. The mother should be sup- plied with water, corn, wheat and grit, and the coop should’ be moved every day to fresh, clean sod. The danger just at this point is from indigestion, since poults are voracious ' eaters, and here on the prairie we have no natural grit. This danger can now be reduced to a minimum, since grit is man- ufaetured in sizes suitable for poults and chicks as well as adult fowls. Fowls eat it greedily, proving that nature is ever true to her wants. Probably indigestion and lice cause | a greater mortality among turkeys, old and young, than all” other causes combined. Perhaps in, places where the soil is. sandy or gravelly the former trouble would not. bé 80 seri: a ous, but here where some sharp, grinding power has to ‘be provided for them, they often suffer for lack of it. : ss I always keep a pile of sand and gravel in my’ chicken yard, but it is surprising how soon the little pebbles. disap- pear, leaving a smooth surface of sand. Great care should, be taken not to ‘feed young turkeys too much at a time. This “ is the rock on which 'the frail bark of thousands of poults® has struck and gone down together with, the hopes and plans of their zealous but misguided owners. The natural ‘habit - ort turkeys is to hunt for food and this they’ ‘do Slowly and deliberately all day long, thus the process, of eating and di-. gesting is simultaneous, but when fed abundantly they gorge. themselves and in a few weeks fall a BEY, to ihely, oO own greed. KEEP MOTHER TURKEY CONFINED. FIRST WEEK. With very early hatched turkeys it is better to keep the’ mother confined in a large coop for several weeks, but when - the weather is warm and dry she can be liberated..at the end: of a week. Never, save once, have I known her to return to. the coop at night; neither do they seek the shelter of bushes or boards where enemies might lurk. , They usually select, an open spot for the night where they can see the approacn of foes. Although this situation is exposed to dew and -rain they can be depended on to sit close and. keep their young . 92 ; SUCCESS WITH POULTRY ‘warm and dry unless the storm is prolonged until hunger compels them to. move. Notwithstanding the natural timidity of the turkey she shows a courage in the care of her young that I have never seen equalled in other flocks. I have raised poults with do- mestic hens with no loss, and, with encouraging prospects until they were weaned, when they lost courage, and, refus- ing to eat, wandered around in search of a mother or kept up an incessant ‘‘cheep,’’ ‘‘cheep,’’ that was pitiful to hear. At night they sought the company of some friendly hen and tried to slip under her wings, but in the morning they would renew their search for a mother until finally worn-out with hunger and loneliness they nearly all died. At other times they adapt themselves more readily to changed conditions, showing that the difference was mainly with the mothers, those being the most desirable that encourage their poults to scatter out and forage for themselves instead of calling them all back every few minutes with an exciting and prom- ising chuek. At one time I attempted to transfer a brood of three weeks’ old poults from a domestic to a turkey hen, but while she was quite willing to adopt them they would ac- knowledge no allegiance to her. They had been accustomed to the cluck of the hen and would not respond to the persua- sive crooning of the turkey. One. characteristic of turkeys is ‘that they are never cruel to each other’s young. On the con- trary, they usually form squads or colonies, sometimes two families uniting, sometimes all that are on one farm. I have learned that the best mother is the one that as- sumes the whole care of her family and does not wait around +o be fed. One summer I had a hen with eighteen little ones, and I was pelased to see her bring them up to the house several times a day, stepping around cautiously and looking vin at the door in a tentative sort of way, as if to learn whether her family would be taken care of without any spe- eial effort on her part. To encourage her confidence I kept a pan of food ready for them, and how those turkeys did eat. But it was mistaken kindness, for when they were four or ‘five weeks old they began to die from no apparent cause, ‘and I am now convinced that it was from overfeed and indiges- tion. Of the eighteen only six remained and I have ever since discoutaged turkey loafers. Now I feed but twice a day after they have their liberty, and frequently the mother takes her flock to the pastures and I do not see them for weeks, but we have a lookout committee to report as they roam about the fields, Occasionally, though rarely, a whole flock will wander far enough away to fall victims to hunters. We have not as many foes to poultry as they do who live near the ‘‘timber,’’ and consequently need not be so careful about housing the young, but we are not wholly free from losses by accident, as for instance, last summer on two separate occasions, a railroad train ran into my flock as they were taking their sun-bath on the rails, at one time killing twenty-four of my earliest half-grown poults. : FIGHTING THE LICE PEST. Before insect powder came into general use I had re- course to grease with a little coal oil added, but it was dan- gérous to use this on young poults or on the mother hen, es- pecially in damp weather, and rather than take such risks I frequently turned her out, depending on her taking dust baths, which she could or could not do according to the dry- ness of the soil. Next came the powder, but some danger to the little ones was connected with the use of this, too, and more, possibly, by withholding it. Probably all turkey rais- * ers have been confronted with the query, to grease or not to grease, to dust or not to dust, that is the question. When I received my first can of liquid lies killer or paint I -experi- mented on a brood of White Plymouth Rock chicks three weeks old. - During incubation’ the mother had been in a , clean, light, dry room with a soft, earth floor, so that. she had ample ‘facilities for dusting. I had dusted her with in- sect powder twice during the three weeks and again after hatching. She was placed with her chicks in a light, sunny room in the cellar, which was warmed by furnace pipes pass- ing through it. Here, too, she had loose, dry earth for a kath, and on examining the chicks elosely I found no sign of. lice. However, I determined to test the merits of this much lauded insecticide by commencing with the smallest of my flock. After placing a paper in the bottom of a small wooden tox and brushing it over lightly with the liquid lice killer, I put the chicks in and covered them over, leaving a half-inch erack for air. After leaving them for an hour I carefully removed them to a piece of white cloth and gathering up the corners I gently shook and brushed them, then opening it, I took the chickens out and looked for results. ; ‘ While I did not find ‘‘a hundred dead lice’’ I did find enough to convince me that the paint was far more effectual than powders and so much more quickly and easily used, I gave the mother the same treatment, One oceular demon- stration is sufficient to insure the use of it for the future. By painting the nest boxes with louse paint, and keeping the Lroody turkey in a box similarly painted for a few hoyrs be- fore she is given her eggs, I believe the annoyance of vermin will be eliminated from turkey rearing. WHEN AUTUMN APPROACHES. ‘The hen turkeys that have been out in the fields during the summer bring their broods gradually nearer home as autumn approaches, and before the middle of October the whole flock is together again an das comfortably: established as though they had not taken a summer outing. Probably is is hereditary instinct from the ancestral wild parents that causes the bronze turkey to love.to roam and take her young far from the haunts of men. While there is an element of danger in this inclination to wander away with the young there is also an advantage of a varied diet and consequent rapid growth, besides a great saving of time for the attendant, but I can not believe that a larger per cent of poults would be raised’ if the mother were allowed to take them away as soon as hatched. At least my experience has been in favor of keeping the mother confined until the poults can run well. They are weak when first hatched, and long tramp, even though slowly taken, is too much for them to endure. When I have given the mother and little ones their liberty as soon as taken from the nest, the largest per cent of loss occurred within the first two weeks. While on the subject uf poults I desire to add a word of caution as to the use of a liquid louse killer for very young turkeys or chicks, Their skin is extremely tender and easily irritated, therefore be sure to paint only the sides of the box in which they are placed, and have it large enough so they will not be crowded against the paint, also leave plenty of open space for fresh air for them to breathe and do not leave them in the box more than an hour or two. The poults begin to perch on a fence when six or eight weeks old or as soon as they are well feathered. If the fence is high some strategy is repuired to get the little fellows to the top and it is interesting to watch the process of their get- ting settled for the night. A fence corner is frequently se- lected and the young turkeys fly as high as possible at first, then fly across from corner to corner, ascending with each flight, the mother in the meantime stretching her neck and x SUCCESS WITH POULTRY | 93 Dressed Turkeys. peering around to encourage them in theirefforts. It is evi- dent there is a language which they understand and by which the mother controls, comforts or warns them as occa- sion requires. For that matter all-of our domestic animals seem to be able to communicate with others of their kind and we, who love to watch them, sometimes catch the secret. THE FALL AND WINTER FEED. I have lately been experimenting with blood meal as a daily ration for a brood of White Rock chicks hatched Feb- ruary 15, and from their rapid growth I am satisfied that it will be a valuable addition to the feed for poults. It should be given sparingly—according to directions—and supplies the place of meat, besides it is always ready, an item of im- portance to most farmers’ wives. The expense is slight since it is so condensed, that a teaspoonful a day would be suffi- cient for twenty young poults. This amount could be in- ereased if it were found desirable to keep them on limited range, or in case of late hatched turkeys it. would be excel- lent to promote growth. Turkeys hatched later than June are not good for breeding stock the following’ year, but they make delicious, juicy roasts. The fall and winter feed should consist of grit, corn and wheat, or oats may be substituted for wheat, if well filled out, but if light and. husky they are dangerous.. There is no economy in buying wheat screen- ings. They are liable to contain injurious seeds and are quite as expensive on the whole as clear wheat. There is no mistake made in feeding corn for fat, wheat for growth, and grit for the mill, and when the ground is covered with snow they should be given a vegetable ration of cabbage or potato peelings, but as soon as patches of grass appear they will find every tender blade. If, as is usually the case, turkeys have access to the feeding yard of cattle or hogs they will get all the corn they ought to have, but if they are deprived of this privilege it is well to give fiver a full meal at night— all they will eat up clean—and in the morning a handful of corn and the same amount of wheat for each turkey scat- tered if possible so that they will be obliged to search for it, but very few farmers have a scratching shed large enough for fifty ‘or one hundred turkeys. I do not encourage my turkeys to eat or sleep in the chicken house, believing that keeping a line of separation between mine and thine con- duces to-harmony and healthfulness. I do not think it would _ be’ an advantage to turkeys to roost in a house unless it might be during a’ protracted storm. If they are not accus- tomed to it while young they.gradually become inured to the cold, and nature has provided them with a coat that fits very closely in a rainy or cold season. I never had a turkey with frozen feet, although mine roost out of doors in the coldest weather. It is true they never go into tree-tops nor into trees at all, for that matter, but perch on the fence that surrounds the barn lot. Many farmers object to raising turkeys on ae- count of the expense and consider the amount of grain eaten by them worth more than the turkeys themselves. They do eat a great deal from November till May, but there is another side to that question. They eat a great deal from May to November that the farmer wants them to eat. Bugs, worms, larvae and weed seeds—destructive enemies of the farmes— form the chief diet of turkeys from spring till fall. We think they pay for their keeping by what they destroy, paradoxical as that may sound, and in their behalf, fearlessly challenge the comparative useful- ness of ‘‘The Birds of Killingworth,’’ as told by by the student in Longfellow’s ‘‘Tales of a Wayside Inn.’’ If any readers of this article grudge -our feathered friends the grain they need, will they not read that little story again? If turkeys are raised for market they should be fed more liberally than if they‘are designed for breeders, although the incessant demand of buyers—for stock—is for great size, and this is a strong temptation to the feeder to sacrifice future usefulness to enormous weight. ‘I am unable to understand the requirement, since the con- census of opinion among experienced breeders is that the largest turkeys are not as prolific, nor as vigorous, a3 a me- dium size, and they are not in demand in any market. While a few raise turkeys to sell for stock only, most breeders are raising for the market, or at least mainly for that purpose, and the market standard is for plump, -well-shaped birds of medium size, Very few families—except, perhaps, at the holidays—want very large turkeys, but they do want good ones. Will it not, then, be wise to regulate the supply by the demand, and instead of striving to secure the heaviest bird, try to get the most symmetrical and beautiful? We have already gone beyond the standard in weight. Is it not time to call a halt in that direction before our work becomes impractical, and improve in shape and plumage? In this series of articles I have not touched upon the dis- eases of turkeys, for the reason that I believe in the efficacy of prevention rather than cure. It is said that in China physicians are employed to keep their patients well, instead of euring them when they are ill; so with turkeys, if they can not be kept well it is usually iahier lost to doctor them, because even if they live it will be with enfeebled constitu- tions and their offspring will inherit the same tendeney, thus the flock will deteriorate instead of becoming stronger by the survival of the fittest. PREPARING TURKEYS FOR EXHIBITION. Preparations for the show room is very simple if the birds have had good care during the preceding weeks, and by this I do not mean that they should be fattened, but kept in good, thrifty condition, just such conditions as you would like to have them in if you were buying instead of selling. Washing their feet—if dirty—and putting a numbered band on the leg is all the preparation necessary for Bronze turkeys, On no account attempt to wash the plumage. The brilliancy would be greatly injured by soap and water, and a turkey takes pérfect care of his own feathers. Of course, a careful breeder will look over his or her flock in the fall after they all get their freedom suits, and in case of any ‘‘off’’ feath- ers, will mark that one for the oven, though the per cent of culls in a flock of full blood turkeys is very small. Some- times the wings of poults will be defective, but when the 4 : SUCCESS WITH POULTRY ‘adult. feathers come in the fall they will be all right, and I have known feathers to come in a little -splotched the sec- ° ond or third season after a molt of perfectly ‘barred wings. By splotched, I mean the. white bar is wider in some places than it ought to be, showing a lack of coloring, matter. When. this, ,oceurs it is likely to be followed. by a perfect barring after the next molt. Some writers affirm that if, an off-col- ored feather be plucked it is liable to be followed by a per- fect « one, | , TI do not know how it is as I have never tried uit, but a ‘think it may be true as there is something curious about the division of, coloring matter, but I should be ex- tremely ‘suspicious of a feather nearly all black or nearly all light. It would show conclusively that somewhere in the past ‘history of that bird, blood other than Bronze, had been introduced and it would be very difficult to cross it out. It might’ disappear in one generation to reappear in the next. It would hardly’ ‘be possible that every bird in a large flock should be excellently marked, but by severely and con- scientiously culling for a few years a large per cent of them 4 ‘what the markings o fthe birds ought to be or are. -probably know their weight but are unable to give a detailed description of them, being satisfied that they are ‘‘good’’ The great risk in n introducing new birds into a flock arises. from the fact that so few who raise turkeys know They may be. when they may be very inferior. A thorough knowledge of what they ought to be in every respect as to size, shape and markings is the only basis on which a breeder can sell with satisfaction to himself and his customers. It is not suffi- cient to say he has good birds, but he must be able to tell in what respect they excell or where they are faulty. If he does this honestly and truthfully it matters little whether he has a score card to go. with the bird or not, providing always that he buyer knows, too. If he does not it is safer to have the score card to sell by, since it follows almost in- variably that he least experienced are the most difficult to please, and the score card is a protection to the seller. MRS. S. N. KING, Tilinois. CAPONS AND CAPONIZING What Hon F. L. Washburn, of the Oregon Experiment Station, Says About Capons—Actual Experiments in Caponizing, With Results—Full and Explicit Directions in Caponizing (With Illustrations. ) HE. commercial side of the business of poultry rais: ing is coming rapidly into prominence.” It has been surprisingly neglected in times past. But the time of change is here, and now the general povermment and several states are taking a practical interest in the subject. Experiment stations are at work investigating . the mooted questions of poultrydom and the results can not be other than beneficial. The Dominion government to the north df us has also established experiment stations, and the’ poultry industry.is now receiving intelligent and widespread attention. We trust that the day is not far distant when every country and state fair will have its large poultry ex- hibit, consisting of both pure-bred and commercial speci _mens, the former to comprise thoroughbred land and water - fowls, bred to standard requirements, and the latter, crosses, “ eapons, ete., produced with a view to the greatest commer- _ ial value. . In an official bulletin, ¥. L. Washburn, of the Oregon Experiment Station, ives results of a number of experi ‘ments’ im “this” branch of: peel? eultare, from which wa .,quote as follows: “A capon bears the same relation to a cockerel that a steer does to a bull; of steers a capon is. more quiet, lays on much flesh and fat it is an altered rooster. As in the case and ‘remains tender for many months after the operation. - Caponized birds seventeen and nineteen months old have been killed here whose meat was extremely delicate and ten- der. They will, furthermore, weigh from 20 to 30 per cent more than a rooster of the same age, if kept the proper length of time, and in many eastern markets will bring from eighteen to. thirty cents per pound. The comb and wattles do not grow after the operation. The feathers of the neck and: saddle grow enormously long and become very glossy. They do not chase the hens; they neither crow nor fight. For a few months after caponizing they are very hearty eat- ers; but later do not consume appreciably more food than ordinary fowls.’’ CAPONIZING ON A FARM. How Not to Succeed vs. How to Succeed—$1.00 to $1.25 Apiece for Barnyard Mongrels. By J..C. HOOVER. ' During the summer of 1894 I caponized 270 birds of all - colors, sizes, ages, weights, etc., 100 for myself and 170 for my neighbors, charging them five cents each for the work, and contracted for the capons to be delivered any time after January 15, at 1244 cents per pound. Of the 270 caponized twelve died from the effects of the operation. Almost every one of these died within fifteen minutes after the operation. My 100 were B. P. Rocks and averaged when eaponized three pounds each—to large for safety, but I had good suc- cess, I did not want to take the room in my best poultry houses, which were arranged and yarded for fifteen laying hens each, so these 100 eapons, to say nothing of almost as many hens and other fowls, were given free range with a single all-purpose farmer’s chicken house to roost in. The house would possibly have accommodated fifty with some degree of comfort. Need I give the result? Every poultry- man knows the evil results arising from that fertile cause— overcrowding. But this is for the benefit of the farmer who has but one poultry house, and for the inexperienced poul- tryman who should be willing to profit by the mistakes of others, The capons did as well as could be expected under the circumstances, which was but a very little gain in weight until about November 1. When the cold winds began to whistle and the free range did uot furnish much forage they ; SUCCESS WITH POULTRY 95 showed signs of roup, which soon developed into the most malignant form of that dreaded contagion, and sixty-five of them gave up the struggle for life before I succeeded in, stamping it out. Of the remaining thirty-five, some of them escaped the roup, others had it and recovered. These were put into good, dry, comfortable quarters, and were well cared for, but it was impossible to get them heavy or to be anything like good capons., They were shipped January 20, by freight, to a commis- sion house in New York, and on arrival I received the fol- lowing: ‘‘Can’t sell your guinea feathers at any price.’’ To which I replied: ‘‘Mistake; no guinea feathers shipped. . Please remit at once for capons.’’ In a few days I received the account of sale: One box poor eniesent 125 Ibs., at lle... .$13.75 Charges .......+.... SRS as BOON SWE 1.85. Check: sii5 54 wenn vince sine anya Os Aadneuec B2u6 $11.90 “Those who want capons want capons, and want them to weigh from seven to nine pounds each. No capon dealer would buy these at any price; too thin and poor.’’ A check for $11.90, which by dividing the hundred into three or four flocks and properly caring for them, might have been increased to $125 at least, as.capons were wanted at eighteen and twenty cents. That one mistake cost me not less than $100. Do not let this statement make the impression that capons are delicate and will more readily contract disease than other fowls, for this is not true, and I am convinced from my three years’ experience with about five hundred capons, kept in various ways, that they are hardy, and if any difference, will surpass in thrift other fowls given the same care. Do not overerowd your fowls of any kind, for if you do your profits will be on the wrong side of the ledger. Out of 175 caponized for my neighbors, I received 130, as per contract, at twelve and one-half cents per pound. As they. averaged seven pounds (nearly), the average price was eighty-nine cents each, They averaged, dressed, six and one-half pounds (néarly), A capon will dress away about one-eighth. They were shipped at different times from January 15 to last of March, to New York and Buffalo. The average price received was eighteen cents per pound—the . highest being twenty cents, and a few pounds of very un- desirable birds going at eight cents, the lowest. The farmers were well satisfied with the eighty-nine “cents ‘‘apiece’’ for their ‘‘chickens,’’ and no’ particular ef- fort had been put forth to have the cockerels early hatched ' or to produce anything more than the common farmyard mongrels, except one or two families that have been stimu- lated up to produce early ‘‘full-blood’’ Barred Plymouta Rocks. This year a few specimens of this breed reached ten pounds, and brought their owners $1.25 each. A house and yard stocked with a-cross of the large breeds for capons alone might be had on every farm and the profits herein given would be doubled, for it is the heavy capon that sells for the highest price. Farmers in almost any district can ship their own ecapons and other poultry if they eare to take the risk, and save all the money the mid- dleman gets. I do not recommend any particular commis- sion merehants, but there are some that make a specialty of capone. , CAPONS AND CAPONIZING. Actual Experience Recited—Weight of an Eleven-Months Old Plymouth Rock Capon—FProfits on a Barrel of Capons. By DR. RICHARD SCHMIDT, BREEDER. In answer to your request I give you my experience in regard to capons. I read about capons in Poultry Keeper and decided to try my hand. I was then breeding Light Brahmas, Plymouth Rocks, 8. C. B. Leghorns and Houdans, and had started with a sitting of Cornish Indian Games. I bought a caponizing spoon and hook from W. H. Wig- more, and with assistance of a scalpel, a pair of dressing forceps and a nagal speculum (used for a dilator of the inter- costal incision) I went to work. My hired man built ‘a table for the purpose, boring two one-inch holes about ten inches apart on one side of the top for the purpose of making the cockerel secure. We attached a piece of manilla twine about eighteen inches long, to a nail on the right hand side of each hole, allowing the string to pass down through the hole, and fastened a brick to each lose end of the string. Now, taking a cockerel from my as- sistant, I passed both legs through the loop made by the string from nail to hole, and found my brick was heavy enough to hold the legs, The cockerel being on his left side with his back ,toward me I. now took the right wing and passed the loop of the other string with a suspended brick attached, over it, and I had my fowl foul. Making an incision between the last and next rib about one-half inch from the backbone, I etxended it about one inch toward the median line. -Now, by using my nasal spec- ulum for a dilator I found that the right testicle was in full view with only a thin serous membrane intervening. With the hook on the small end of spoon I tore open the mem- brane and said, Eureka! [ removed the right testicle and then looked for the left, which, after much diligent search, I found on the other side of the spinal column. The exces- sive manipulation to which the delicate membranes were subjected in my search for testicle No. 2 (left) caused me in future to designate left testicle No. 1 and right (or eas- iest one to get at) No. 2. My first prospective capon died of uncontrollable ‘‘hem- orrhagica interna’’ in about forty seconds, My next one was a Plymouth Rock (I neglected to say my first was a Light Brahma) of the barred variety. I went through the same operation with him, except that I removed the left testicle first and made a brilliant success of it. He was out of w ten-pound cock and an eight and one-half pound hen, and at seventeen months old (I must tell it, for murder will out,) he defeated a Light Brahma cock, the preporty of a farmer of Marion County, Mo., by name Snod~- grass, at Marion County, Mo., in September, 1892, by taking the blue ribbon given to the largest cock exhibited. My capon at fifteen and one-half pounds defeated a fifteen-pound Light Brahma cock. ‘‘Eureka’’ two times!! In the spring of 1891 I caponized 167 cockerels, ate a good many, treated several of my friends to a capon dinner that Christmas, and shipped a barrel of capons to New. York City, from which I realized $31.50 net profit. There were twenty capons in the barrel and they dressed two hundred and ten pounds at about eleven months old. Theye were in- cubator and brooder raised and fattened like pigs, in a row of coops, each 18x18 inches and 2% feet high, giving all the eorn and wheat they could clean up. ‘The mortality of capons in 1891 was 1.67. I lost two out 96 SUCCESS WITH POULTRY of one hundred and sixty-seven, one being my first and the other my fifth. The latter was lost on account of the use of a pair of scissors with which I thought to facilitate the oper- ation. Having a wery rebellious spermatic cord to twist off I snapped it in two with my scissors, since which time I have had no use for scissors in caponizing, for my would-be capon passed quietly away like No. 1, a victim of ‘‘hemor- rhagica interna arteriae spermaticue,’’ a very easy and ap- parently painless death. Since 1891 I have caponized some cockerels each year, - both for myself and for my friends. The present spring I propose to caponize all my Cornish and White Indian Game cockerels not coming up to the requirements of the standard, and shall exhibit some of them at the poultry shows which I patronize next winter. I expect to show some of the finest carcasses in capons exhibited and to give the Indian Game variety of fowls such a boom that every Indian Game breed- er (myself excepted) will be ashamed of himself (or herself) for not doing more to make their loved variety noted. DR. RICHARD SCHMIDT. $2,347 WORTH OF CAPONS. The Amount One Buyer in an Iowa Town Paid for Capons in Three Months. Allerton, Iowa. Editor Reliable Poultry Journal, To dispose of at a profit the cockerels which usually pre- dominate in the hatches, has been one of the problems for the poultryman and one that he has not completely solved. Caponizing offers to him a new and fertile field of operation, one that will yield him great profits and whose hidden treas- “ures can not be exhausted, as food is always a staple. Heretofore in the Mississippi and Missouri valleys what cockerels we could not get to market at a fair price during the brief broiler season had to be sold as old rosters at one dollar per dozen, if we were lucky enough to get that much. By the process of caponizing one bird can, with less cost to the producer, be made to bring from sixty cents to eighty- five cents, and a dozen birds thereby be made to realize to a poultryman or farmer from seven to nine dollars. This is no crank poultry talk, it is cold facts. We have been doing this well in this vicinity for four years. this point paid out $2,347 for capons alone in the winter of 1896-7, in December, January and February. One farmer’s wife that winter brought in one hundred capons that brought her $90, and the next season she brought in one hundred and ten that brought her $97.50. cinity, and our péople are in the capon business to stay. The operation, while requiring care, is a simple one and is being performed in this. _ Ipeality. chiefly by boys and women and they seem to be doing a thriving business in the | eaponizing | season. ts One buyer here at. Caponizing has increased - the profits of the poultry business enormously in this vi- © As the contention for ppoiltabble employment increases . and economic conditions drive. us to glean the fields of pro- duction more closely, all these byways and- corners must be. worked out and. every means of profit brought into opera- “tion. From a practical point of. view it is just as necessary to caponize a>cockerel for market and. table use as it is to steer a calf or barrow a pig when meant to be used for food, in order to get the best results in weights and in consequent profits. - larger the better. » roaster. thoroughbred males to put with their common hens, and When we contemplate the prices that capons bring, ten to twelve cents per pound here at our own depot, when hens sell at from five to six cents per pound, the wisdom of capon- izing must be plain to any one. If it pays to raise a ealf to a steer or a pig to a marketable hog, it likewise pays to. caponize and mature a cockerel. The poultry people ‘in this vicinity are going to do their share this year towards push- ing forward the western capon.—From Reliable. Poultry Journal, HAS GROWN RICH AT IT. Mr. Allen, a resident of New York State, began as a boy years ago to buy common poultry and eggs for market, going from farm house to farm house. He kept branching out until he now buys and ships to Philadelphia and New York mar- kets $150,000 to $175,000 worth of poultry and eggs each year. He stated that probably his business in this line will reach $185,000 this year. this amount within a radius of twelve miles of Glassboro, so it may be seen that this is quite a poultry raising section. He has men with wagons who make regular trips through He buys practically all of the country. On July 6th, which is late in the season, Mr. Allen was paying ten cents per pound for young ducks and twenty-one and twenty- -two cents per pound for spring chickens—the ‘The duck market,’’ said he, ‘‘is being overstocked this year here in the east. The price for ducks is now lower than I have ever known it to be, while the de- mand for-choice spring chickens at good prices- has been away beyond the supply. There is good money in spring chickens, at the present prices.’’ “‘Capons pay well,’’ continued Mr.'Allen. ‘They bring twenty cents a pound from Thanksgiving to April 1st, then range down to fifteen cents. I bought five hundred from one man this spring. The largest pair I have bought this sea- son weighed twenty-eight pounds, and I, paid the. owner twenty cents per pound for them. Capons should be mar- keted when from seven to twelve months old. “T do all I can to encourage farmers and farmers’ wives to raise better stock each year, to improve its size and ap- pearance when dressed by ‘using standard-bred males with their flocks. They have done this until J am now able to . buy. much choicer dressed poultry and to get top prices for it. _ I buy it all dressed and aim at the top of the market. As.a matter of fact poultry is the best paying crop raised in this ‘section, There is no doubt that it pays better than any other crop marketed. sen people nave found this out and others will. Ma “Last year I bought five hundred and seven tons of dressed youltry, all within a radius of twelve miles of Glassboro.. Farmers’ wives raise the most of it. Now and then you will find a farmer who turns in and helps, but the women in this section raise most of the poultry. “I like Wyandottes best for early fries, for broiling,- but for five and eight-pound .roasters, the Cochins, or crosses of the Cochins, are the best and tenderest. The introduc- tion of Asiaties has increased’ the weight of market, poultry. in this section from two to three pounds per head. A cross, of Light Brahmas and White Plymouth Rocks makes.a fine.,. I constantly advise farmers to buy big, vigorous, they are doing it. Those who do this and take pains soon find their poultry to be the best paying crop they raise.’? SUCCESS WITH POULTRY 97 CAPONIZING—HOW TO DO IT. Full and Explicit Directions for Caponizing. Every poultry raiser has each year a large number of surplus cockerels, These he finds it hard to dispose of at a profit. In the market can can seldom get for them (in their natural state) more than one-half or two-thirds of what he can readily obtain for pullets and hens. It is a fact, how- ever, that when properly caponized and brought to a mar- ketable size, he can obtain for these same cockerels, now developed into capons, twice as much as he can get for his pullets and hens. , A commission merchant, with whom the writer had a talk, reported capons selling at twelve to eighteen cents per pound in that city during the season, and the demand strong. He was then handling capons brought from Illinois, Ohio and Indiana that weighed ten, eleven and twelve pounds. They were killed when from ten months to a year old. : : ae Directions for Caponizing. From twenty-four to thirty hours before performing the operation select such cockerels as you intend to caponize (these should be from two to four months old), confining them in a clean and airy coop or room without either food or water. The best time to confine them is at early morn- ing, as their long fast will then end about noon of the following day, at which time the operation Fig. 1. is best performed. Should the day Cora for Holding Fowl. be cloudy or wet do not caponize them, but let the operation go until a bright and fair day. It is-‘necessary that you have all the light possible in the matter. If it be a cloudy day, and you decide not to eaponize, the birds may be given a little water and food if necessary, but it is much better to avoid this if possible, as it is very desirable to have their intestines quite empty, thus allowing their testicles to be more readily seen, be- sides giving the operator much more room in which to per- a eA Fig. 2.—Knife for Making Cut. form his work. Lay the bird on the, operating table (this table is fully described elsewhere in this article) on its left side. Wrap the cord (Fig. 1) twice around the bird’s legs, above the knees. In making one wrap only, there is danger of the birds kicking themselves out of the loop. Hook the other cord once around both his wings, close to the body. To the opposite end of these cords attach a half brick, or some other weight, letting them hang over the sides of the table. This holds the bird securely. Have all your instru- : ments in readiness, that you may work quickly. Theard the Canula (Fig. 5) with a strong and long horse hair or fine steel wire (we think wire the best), letting the wire form a loop at the curved end, and extend well out at the other end. Now, after slightly wetting Gy the spot, proceed to pluck the feath- Fig. 3.—Spring Spreader. ors from the upper part of the last two ribs, just in front of the thigh joint. Pull the flesh on the side down toward the hip; when operation is finished the cut between the ribs will be entirely closed by the skin going back to its place. While holding the flesh back with ‘the left hand, with the right hand take the knife (Fig. 2) and insert it (eutting edge away from you) between the last two ribs, cutting first down, and then up a little way, following the direction of the ribs, making the cut not over one inch long. Cut deep enough to go through the skin and flesh, being very careful not to go so deep as to cut intes- 0 LF Fig, 4.—Sharp Hook to Open Film-Like Skin. tines. There is little danger of doing this, however, if they are empty, as they will be from the bird’s long fast. The danger of cutting the intestines is when they are full, as in this state they press against the ribs. Should the cut bleed, stop a moment, let the blood elot on the thin skin eovering the bowels,, and then remove it with the spoon forceps. Next take the Spring Spreader (Fig. 3), press it between the thumb and finger until the ends come together, inserting the ends in the incision, with the spring end to- ward the bird’s feet. (see operating table). Upon looking into the cut a thin tissue-like skin will. be seen just under the ribs and enclosing the bowels. Take a sharp hook (Fig. 4) and pick the tissue pen, so that you may get into the bird with the instruments. The breaking of this skin. does not cause the least pain to the bird. One of the testi- eles will now be brought plainly to view, lying close up to the back of the fowl. Sometimes both testicles are in sight, but this is not generally the case, as the other one Fig. 5.—Caponizing Canula, lies beyond and more on the other side of the bird, the intestines preventing it from being seen from this opening, The testicle brought to view is enveloped in a film. This should be brought away with the testicle. Some people, in eaponizing, tear the skin open and then take the testicle out. The danger in so doing is, that if the skin is. left, there is danger of causing a ‘‘slip.’’ r Now comes the only dangerous part of the whole opera- tion, getting hold of and removing the testicles; but with a steady hand and plenty of light not one bird in fifty should be lost. Attached to the testicle and lying back of it is one of the principal arteries of the fowl, and this, if ruptured, is sure to cause death. It is here that the canula (Fig. 5) proves of great advantage. The hair (or wire) being small and very fine, is. easily slipped between the testicle and ar- tery without injury to either, and a clear, clean cut made. Take the canula in the right hand and adjust the hair (or Fig. 6.—Caponizing Probe. : wire) in it so that a loop about one-half inch long will ex- tend from small end of tube, leaving the two ends of wire extending far enough out of the open end to secure a good hold. Insrt the end of the tube that has the loop on it very carefully and slip the loop over both ends of ‘the testicle and entirely around it, hold end of tube close down to the testicle. When the testicle is entirely encircled by the loop, take both ends of the wire (or horsehair) which comes out of the other end of the tube with thumb and first finger, 98 SUCCESS WITH POULTRY holding it tight, and draw up on it carefully but firmly, being particularly careful ta have the loop around the testicle. Keeu the end of the tube very close to testicle all the time. If drawing up on the wire does not at once cut testicle, slightly turn from one side to the other (but not entirely around), then the testicle will come off. After removing it, carefully examine inside of bird to see that no piece is left in, and also to see that no foreign substance, such as feathers, etc., has gotten in. If any have, it-is necessary to remove them, for, if allowed to remain, they are liable to cause inflammation. Sometimes a feather or part of the testicle may drop among the bowels; if this occurs move bowels around with probe (Fig. 6) until the object is found, then remove with open forceps. When the operation is performed, remove the spreader at once and the skin will very soon slip pack over the cut and heal in a very short time. Never Table No. 1._The Above, Photographed sew the cut, as it and Engraved from Life, L[llustrates the . 7 Method of Holding Fowl Ready for Capon- will heal just the same as any other izing. small flesh wound. The bird can now be turned over on its right side, cut made and testicle removed in exactly the same manner as just described for the left side. Both testicles may be taken out with the one incision, but to the learner we would say this is attended with more difficulty than the two in- cisions. The other testicle being situated so far over on the other side, there is more difficulty in reaching it, besides danger in piercing artery running back of first testicle. ‘Lo an. experienced person there is no danger in removing both testicles from one incision, but to those who have not that degree of confidence given by practice we would recommend the two cuts. The bird récovers just as quickly as though ove cut were made, and the operation is performed equally as quick if not quicker. If both testicles are removed from one cut, the lower must always be taken out first, for if the top one is first removed, the small amount of blood that may follow will cover the low- er one, keeping it from view. The Best Time to Caponize. Fowls hatched in the spring make the finest capons. They can be cut before hot weather comes, which is « great advantage, although Sie suaacle cedainne no ill results follow the operation © 2 large Scale.’ at any time in the year. The bird should be from two to three months old (not over six months), and weigh not less than a pound to a pound and a half. The size is equally as important as the age. June, July, August, Sep- tember and October are the months generally taken for caponizing, for the reason that spring chickens arrive at proper age and weight for market during the months of January, February, March, April and May, at which times there is the greatest demand for them in the cities, and the highest prices secured. That capons are in our markets at certain ‘seasons only, is because the demand is far in excess of the supply, The time will be when capons may be obtained the year around, 2.—Can be Table No. Easily and Cheaply made Operating Table. _ The top of an ordinary barrel (see illustration) meets all requirements of a table, admits of the birds being easily secured, brings the birds to the proper height with the opera- tor; in brief, makes as good a table as can be desired. It costs nothing as there is always an empty barrel lying around, or one that can be easily emptied. Feeding Capons. ' The question is often asked: ‘‘How are capons to be fed?’’ After caponizing give the bird all he will eat of soft food, and let him have plenty of water. Caponized fowls begin to eat almost immediately after the: operation is performed, and no one would think for a moment that a radical change had been made in their nature. Now leave the bird to himself, as for-the time being he is his own doctor. It is well to look him over two or three days after the operation, as in breathing, the air sometimes gets un- der the skin, causing ‘‘wind puff’’’ or a slight swelling, in other words. Simply prick through the skin at the sides with a sharp needle, gently pressing at the same time, when the air will be expelled and the capon relieved. Within ten days from the operation the wounds will be healed over. A day or so after caponizing the bird should be allowed to run at large, treating him just the same as any growing poultry would be treated. Killing and Dressing Capons for Market. The capons should be allowed to grow until at least one year-old. By this time they will have atfained an imposing size. Some keep them even longer than a year. While this is optional with the raiser, yet we would not advocate kill- ing them under one year old if they are being raised for market. There is a great difference between the dressing of ¢a- pons and an ordinary fowl. / When capons are ready for. market, select such as you propose killing, and confine’ them. Keep them without food or water for about twenty-four hours before killing, that their crops may be entirely emptied. Now get ready your place for killing and dressing the fowls (if you have conveniences in the chicken house this will do quite well, or the woodshed, or any cool outhouse), and drive two heavy nails or wooden pins about one foot or less apart in an over- head beam. Make two nooses of strong string, each noose long enough to hold one each of the legs, and have the capons hang low enough to pluck with ease. Have a weight of two or two and one-half pounds attached to a hook, and when the bird is killed, fasten this hook in his lower bill after you hang him up for. plucking. The weight holds the bird in position while picking and renders the operation much easier. Next, procure a table to dress the fowl upon, and make a frame on the same principle as a small box without the ends and cover. In this you lay the capon, back down, to remove the intestines. When everything is in readiness take your capon and ‘suspend him by the two legs from the nooses. Catch hold of his head, and with your poultry killing knife cut vein of back of throat, through the mouth. Never cut this from the outside. Immediately upon cutting vein, run point of knife through roof of the mouth clear into the brain. This operation causes what is termed ‘‘dropping the feathers,’’ making them come off more easily. As soon as the knife enters the brain the bird loses all sense of feelmg. Begin plucking at once, Poultry Killing Knife. SUCCESS WITH POULTRY 99 Capons Dressed for Market, As to the style of dressing, the feathers are left on the wings up to second joint, the head and hackle feathers, also on legs half way up to drumsticks, all the tail feathers, in- cluding those a little way up the back and the long feathers on hips close to tail. These feathers add greatly to ap- pearance of the bird when dressed, and are also a ready marker from other fowl in markets. Never cut the head off, as this is a distinguishing feature of the bird. A capon may readily be identified among a thousand cockerels, as the comb and wattles cease to grow immediately after capon- izing is-performed. Wash head and mouth well with cold water, being careful to remove all blood. A capon should rot be torn in plucking. There isn o danger of this hap- pening if proper care be taken. “Place the plucked fowl back downwards in the box frame already described. Cut care- fully around the vent and pull out the interstines. These will be found covered with fat, which, as they are pulled out, should be pushed back. When the end of the intestines is reached, insert your finger and break this off, leaving everything else in. As may be expected the fat will be found very heavy around the opening, and if slightly turned outward will soon become hard, which will give a rich ap- pearance in thig portion of the bird. Let the birds hang in 2, clean, cool place until thoroughly cold. For packing use a new box of the required size, lined with white paper (any good, clean paper will do). Pack the birds in solid, back up, being careful not to bruise them. Your birds are then ready for market. With a bird not torn and the feathers properly ‘left on, you have a fowl which for inviting and ‘‘taking’’ appearance it is impossible to equal. A ‘‘slip’? is neither eapon nor cockerel. He is much inferior to the former and a gre2t deal worse than the lat- ter. The ‘‘slip’’ is caused by not entirely removing the tes- ticles: The smallest fraction. left in the bird will grow again with no benefit to the fowl. Our first advice would be, ‘‘Keep cool and make haste slowly.’’ If you are rather tender-hearted, read the direc- tons over carefully and then try your hand on a dead fowl. All surgeons do this in the first place, and probably it would be as well for you to follow their example. Have plen- ty of light. It is impossi- ble to properly perform the operation unless you have this. After your tirst performance of cap- onizing you will be sur- prised at its simplicity. ‘Always keep your instru- ments in perfect order. Before usiag the knife see that the edge is sharp and that he other toois are as they should be. After beginning the oper- ation of caponizing there should be nothing to hin- der you from going right ahead. ‘ MARKETS FOR CAPONS. Open Letters from Leading Commission Men Treating on the Capon Season, the Prices Obtainable, the Weight in De- mand, Killing, ‘Dressing, Etc. Best Breeds and Crosses for Capons—Suggestions for Feeding, , Fattening and General Care. With a view to securing reliable and timely information, ‘*from headquarters,’’ regarding the season for marketing eapons, the prices obtainable, how to kil, dress, ete., we ad- dressed letters of inquiry to several leading dealers in poul- try and eggs in different cities. ‘We reproduce herewith cuts of capons, taken at Selby Poultry Co.’s killing and dressing plant of Quiney, Ill.; show- ing just how this class of poultry should be dressed for this market. You will notice that the feathers are left on the neck, legs, wings and rump, and also that the tail feathers are left on. Otherwise capons should be dressed for market the same as other fowls, except that they should be dry picked, as it would be impossible to scald them and leave part of the feathers on, and if they are sealded the same as other chick- ens, they will not bring any more than the price of common fowls, for they are distinguished more by the way they are picked than in any other manner. All other chickens sell better in the’ market scalded, while turkeys sell best dry picked. Capons are in-the best demand from the first of Novem- ber until the first-of May. The highest prices are generally obtained from January to May. For the last year or two there have been a great many common roosters dressed in capon style and sent to this market, which has hurt the capon trade some, but still good capons always bring a good price. The larger the birds are, the more they will bring per pound. Birds that weigh less than seven pounds each will not bring any more than common chickens, as a rule. Each year the call in this market for genuine, large capons 100 SUCCESS WITH POULTRY becomes greater. The reason of this is that people are be- coming educated to the enjoyment of the luxury. Looking over the quotations on January 1, we note that large and choice capons sold, dressed, at fifteen cents per pound, while mixed lots brought twelve cents per pound. What are termed ‘‘slips’’ (cockerels that have been imper- fectly caponized) sold at from eight to ten cents per pound. A capon will bring upwards of three. times as much as a cock. Capons grow to be larger and heavier than cocks and may, if well bred, be made to attain a size of from twelve to fifteen pounds each. A eapon of such a weight will sell for from $2 to $3, while a cock will not bring more than fifty cents. Yet it costs just as much to raise cocks as to raise capons. When raising capons the breeds should be. carefully con- sidered. If the operation is performed early the capon will not develop a comb. The operation should be performed before the bird is three months old. It is a waste of time to use small breeds and scrubs, as they will only sell as second-class stock. The largest capons, according to our information, are produced by crossing a Dorking male with Brahma hens, and the best in quality are produced by keep- ing the pullets of the Dorking-Brahma cross and mating them with an Indian Game male. The capons so produced combine the size of the Brahma, the compactness of the -Dorking, and the full ‘breast and juicy qualities of the Indian Game. Other good crosses may be made by the use of Houdan male, with Brahma, Cochin, or Plymouth Rock hens, or the Dorking or Indian Game may be used in place of the Houdan. The hen should always be large. The form and quality are mostly derived from the sire. A capon grows and fattens on a small amount of food. The first point should be to secure large frames and fatten . them after they are fully matured. If the capon is pro- dueed from.a large breed it should have plenty of time for growth—about fifteen months—for every pound is valuable. The food should be nourishing, but not. fattening. Corn is unnecessary until near the time for fattening. Wheat, oats, pounded bone, meat, milk and green food, all that it can eat twice a day will be sufficient to help. capons rapidly in growth. Capons should ‘be put in a small yard (not too crowded) three weeks before being sold and fed four times a day, giving plenty of corn and also a variety of other food. One of the best preparations for fattening capons is corn meal and ground oats, equal parts, adding half a pound of crude ‘tallow to every quart of the mixture. Moisten the whole with skimmed milk or boiling water and season with salt. Buyers are not so particular about the size of the legs and skin of the capon as they are of its size and attractive appearance in other respects, yet a yellow leg capon holds an advantage. Yellow legs may be secured by using Plymouth Rock males on pullets that have been produced by mating a Dorking male and a Brahma hen. excellent quality and will always bring a good price. Light Brahma males are also mated with Cochin hens in order to secure large capons, but they do not have that full breast which is imparted by the Houdan, Dorking or Game. If the color of the legs is of no consequence, the Houdan male and Langshan hen produce excellent capons when mated. The comparison of a well-bred, well-kept and well-fed eapon with a cock of the same breeding, will show that where a cock reaches ten pounds weight in a given period of time, the capon will weigh one-third more, and the differ- ence in price is three to four times as much, If, instead of ' faction. Such a eapon will be of . keeping the yards full of useless and unprofitable cockerels caponizing were resorted to, there will be a greater desire to have more cockerels hatched than pullets. By- keeping good breeds, neighbors may be induced to use the eggs for > hatehing purposes, Then the surplus cockerels may be bought at a slight advance, as they will ‘prefer to keep the -pullets for their own use. By then providing the neighbors with pure-bred males every season there would be no limit to the supply of eggs for- hatching cockerels for capons. The Philadelphia Market. ‘ Philadelphia, Pa., August ‘13. Editor Reliable Poultry Journal. Replying to yours of recent date, will State that capons are in active demand in our market from February 1 to May. Last season they ranged in price from twelve to sixteen cents per pound. It is not any advantage with us to’ have ‘them unusually large, as birds weighing five pounds each sell as readily as those weighing seven pounds or more. For the past three seasons. they have been ranging in weight from five to seven pounds each, which gives general satis- Yours truly, PHILIP QUIGLEY, 308 South Front Street, Philadelphia, Pa. POULTRY FOR MARKET. Philadelphia, Pa., March 19. You will find instructions for dressing and shipping poultry on the back of the enclosed circular. From the first of March to the first of November poultry should be shipped alive, or if shipped dressed should have sufficient ice in the barrel to prevent it from spoiling in ‘transit. It would be safe to ship dressed poultry from November to March with- out ice, as during that time the temperature is lower. Impress on shippers the necessity of permitting the en- trails to remain in all poultry and game, with the exception of rabbits and venison; the entrails should be removed from the latter two animals. I have had three shipments of Light Brahma cockerels from E. H. Upson, of Indiana, and got him thirteen cents per pound. We charge five per cent for selling goods and deduct the expressage, etc. Thus: . 1,000 pounds, 10 cents................. $100.00 Less express .............000. :. «$10.00 Commission ............0.0005 : 5.00 Net proceeds ...0..... ccc cece eee $ 85.00 If I have missed giving any desired information please let me hear from you. Yours truly, PHILIP QUIGLEY, Commission Merchant. Explicit Directions, Selecting.—Select nothing but well-fattened stock. Full crops are undoubtedly a great injury to poultry, and often taint the whole fowl, giving it a sour, bad flavor; besides, if it is kept from fee7 twenty-four hours before Hing, the food becomes fully digested and, having passed off, leaves the entrails comparatively clean. Killing.—The best mode of killing fowls is to stick them in the mouth, being careful that they helped freely, and that the blood does not collect afound the head, causing that part to spoil much quicker than it otherwise would. Pick the feathers while the fowl is bleeding and be careful not to bruise or tear the flesh, Dressing.—Poultry should be dry picked, not scalded. They should then be hung up by the legs or spread upon SUCCESS WITH POULTRY 101 shelves in a dry place, but not in a draft where they will become ‘‘wind dried.’’ They should not be packed until the animal heat has had time to escape. _Care should be taken not to allow them to freeze before being packed, and it is much better‘ to reach market free from frost. The head and feet should be left on; and should be well cleaned, but the intestines should not be removed. _be shuffled about in handling. Packing.—Barrels should be used for packing all kinds -of poultry. Pack as compactly as possible, always lining the barrel with clean paper, and see that the package is so well filled that when the cover is on the contents will not Never use straw in packing poultry, for, besides creasing their bodies, there is always more or less chaff, which detracts from the appearance of the fowls. . COMMERCIAL DUCK RAISING—POINTS ON BREEDING, HATCHING, FEEDING AND MARKETING. N our talk sbout market ducks, as is natural, we begin | with the breeding stock, which, at the start, brings us face to face with the question as to what species of duck it pays best to keep. Though several varieties have been given a fair trial, the popular vote today is un- questionably for the Pekin, as it combines more favorable points than any other variety, being very heavy, a rapid grower, prolific in cgg yield, besides being a very handsome ,Snow-wwhite bird with yellow feet and hill and a proud carriage. ; How to Distinguish the Sex. The females may be distinguished by their loud ‘‘ quack- quack,’’ while the male never speaks above a whisper, and then in a sort of sissing whistle. Another distinct feature about the drake is the two crisp little feathers that curl up on his tail. Four ,at the most five, ducks go with every drake, and too much care cannot be given that the birds are thoroughly healthy and that no sickness has come near them, and that they have not been unduly forced for size or fattened to the injury of their digestive organs, and that they are given every possible aid towards devoloping into thoroughly vig- orous stock. Plenty exercise, fresh air and enough right food to keep them in good condition (not fat) are absolutely necessary to attain the end in view. Good Vigor of Breeding Stock Necessary. It is a very decided mistake to think that because 2 pair of birds weigh a lot they will consequently and of necessity be better’ producers and their progeny weigh heavier. It is the thorough-bred qualities and the stamnia of the parent that counts in the day of reckoning. The growing -demand for heavy-weight ducks is one reason why so many ducks die in the shell and when young. If the eggs come from vigorous, healthy stock that has been fed correctly for egg production the ducklings can very nearly all be hatched and raised and made to weigh at eight to ten weeks old between five and one-half to seven pounds. This season just past we raised a flock of one » thousand with a loss of but seven birds. We got them, the market birds, up to five and one-half to seven pounds at eight and nine weeks: old. Their parents, on an average, weighed between four and one-half and five and one- half pounds. ‘We have also hatched from heavy weight birds and could not get them to dress at three months old over four pounds and lost a large percentage of half-grown birds. They did not have the vigor to stand the heavy forcing diet. A large frame and fair covering of flesh is all right, providing the vigor goes with it, and the health; but if one has to be sacrificed, better let size go, for you can breed up to that; but it is hard to fight and win with enervated stock, for the strain on thé digestive organs is very severe when they are forced for market production. At between eight and ten weeks old we can get, as be- fore said, a very good weight on our birds. : Those reserved for breeders should be separated from the market stock as soon as their voices allow the sex to be distinguished, which, on a rapid growth diet, will be at six or seven weeks of age. These birds require a food and care that best develops bone, muscle and vigor. Handling Eggs for Hatching. Regarding the care of eggs for hatching; they chill at about 38 degrees, it is therefore necessary if-eggs are requir- ed during very early spring, to have a warm, dry corner and bedding provided for the Jaying ducks, where they can be secured until ‘the eggs are promptly gathered in the early. morning. These are to be kept in a shaded place of even temperature of say 50 degrees and turned daily. Rough- shelled eggs or mis-shapen ones will not hatch. Duek eggs seem to require more moisture during incu- bation than do hens’ eggs during testing, as the embryo duck is liable to be killed and great care should be taken only to subject the egg to the heat and light sufficiently long to tell its condition. : The birds should be kept in the incubator until thorough- ly dry and the temperature gradually lowered to 90 degrees. A basket, lined with an old (warmed) quilt, is a good re- ceptacle in which to convey them to the breoder. This has, of course, been thoroughly warmed and aired and the heat held steady at 90 degrees, which is right for the first week. Every week thereafter it may be lowered about 8 degrees. The outside (or yard) temperature should be 10 or 15 de- grees cooler and when the tabies are thtee to four weeks old ‘the outside heat is right at about 65 degrees and they do not require artificial heat in the brooder. They need good, sweet air and their houses to be kept clean and dry (chaff or straw makes a good bedding.) This is very important, The drinking water should be tepid. Soft is healthier for them than hard water. Feeding the Young Birds. For the first two days, bread softened with milk and fed four times daily. For the first three or four days this season past we have, with good results, left a little food be- fore them all the time, but after that we gave only what they ate up clean. The in-door yards of our brooder house are eleven by five feet. We run about forty ducklings in each. The out- side yards are twenty feet long. The netting is eighteen mehes high and is one inch mesh, When the ducklings are four to six weesks old they are removed to larger pens and the flock divided into two, about twenty birds in each. 102 SUCCESS WITH POULTRY Here there is no hover, but we have a stove that can be eas- ‘ily lighted and used during storms to keep the air dry and prevent damp and chill. A week. or two later they are ‘moved on’? to the fattening sheds, which are constructed with a special view to ventilation, and where they remain, some sixty in each, with but little exercise till marketed. In our brooder house out-door yards we use V-shaped troughs for holding the drinking water, with slats across to prevent the ducklings from fouling the water or getting wet. Our other houses are provided with a continuous trough, through which runs a stream of clear, soft river water day and night, forced up through gas pipes by a hydraulic ram. Under the hovers of our brooder houses (also in the ‘summer cottages’’) fime chapped straw is used for bedding. But in the indoor and outside pens and yards, sand. In the latter a crust of compost soon forms over it, which, when dry, cakes. It is then easily removed with the help of a fork, hoe and shovel. Fresh sand is then substituted; also, the holes they so enjoy to make and ‘‘puddle in’’ are kept level so. that the yards are dry after rains and no water is left in spots wherein the ducks can get wet and chilled. Two and a half feet netting of two inch mesh is used for all but the brooder house yards. Getting the Ducks Ready for Market. When ready for market we separate and drive into a distant shed the number required, to fill our order. The bird is caught, held firmly between the knees, the head is bent over a block and it is stunned with a sharp blow on the back of the neck at the base of the brain. In the mouth is then inserted a long, thin-knife blade, which is then run up into the brain and given a downward and backward twist, which, if rightly done, cuts the jugular vein. The dead bird is bled freely and then plucked rapidly, -while warm, the coarse feathers first. If marketed at about ten weeks of age there are no pin feathers on ducks, and they can be stripped quickly and easily when once the ‘‘know how’’ is acquired, but it is claimed that at four months old they are again clean of them. A despairing correspondent recently asked, ‘¢ Will you please tell me if there is ‘any age when ducks don’t grow pin feathers???’ We have picked ten weeks old birds in seven minutes, and it’s taken onu hour and fifteen minutes to pick one about four months old. But, of course, it takes longer, even if no pin feathers disfigure, for a seven than a four-pound duck. Get the coarse feathers off first and second joint of wings first, then the fine ones, the down can be rubbed off with a damp thumb and forefinger. A knife helps ‘‘ catch on’’ to stubborn short feathers. Place the bird on the knee, breast up, and with one hand holding the flesh firmly in place pluck with the other against the grain, first the feathers, a few at a time, and then the down. The thumb moistened and a little twist given, cleans to the flesh without breaking. When pin feathers grow too short to pull, scissors snip them off closely and improve the looks. If the flesh is accident- ally torn it should be sewed up with a fine thread. The neck is cleaned half way up to the head. After the ducks are picked, their mouths are carefully washed out and their feet cleansed, then they are placed in ice-cold water, which is changed in three or four hours. When the animal heat is exhausted they are packed for shipment in boxes between layers of straw, each bird in a nest of its own and separate. The box has air or gimlet holes, four on each side and near the bottom. Here is a new formula of feed and was handed me re- cently by a small, but suecessful raiser of ducks. She says: ‘¢Bread and milk for the first few days; then one part In- dian meal to two parts bran (beef scrap and sand added) till within ten days of killing, when reverse the parts, three of meal and one of bran. Three meals a day; a meadowy field and a puddle and no board to cover them after the ‘“¢bread and milk age.’? What do you think! Didn’t lose one and they all went off at eleven weeks old at forty cents per pound and twelve and one-half pounds to the pair. This method, for a limited number of birds, seems the simplest, easiest, most economical and most satisfactory one that I know, if it works as she says. It is a contrast to the artificial method, which, for obvious reasons, is adopted: where larger numbers of ducklings are raised. FRANCES E. WHEELER. POULTRY AND FRUIT COMBINED Every Raiser of Poultry Should Consider the Matter of Growing Fruit in Connection Therewith —Plums and Poultry- Growing Plums. E feel that we cannot urge too often or in too W strong terms the wisdom of combining fruit grow- ing with poultry raising. The two go hand in glove together, one greatly benefiting the other and enabling the ~ proprietor to grow two profitable crops on the same ground. On the editor’s seven-acre farm the production of poul- try and fruit is combined to splendid advantage. We have at present some one hundred and seventy apple, peach, plum, cherry and pear trees, eighty of which have reached the bearing age. We have a patch each of blackberries, black raspberries, red raspberries and Golden Queen (yel- low) raspberries. There is an acre vineyard and a straw- berry bed 30x150 feet. This place was well set out to fruit when we bought it in 1890, and we have added more each year. In the spring of 1893 we set out seventy- six plum, peach and cherry trees, The young trees were two years old when received from the nurserymen. Two years later ‘ the Abundance plum trees in this lot of seventy-six bore quite good crops and last season, after being planted three years, they bore heavily. Damson plum trees set out at the same time have thus far borne only half a dozen plums. These trees are of much slower growth. Some Shropshire Damson plum trees set out in 1893 have borne light crops the last two seasons, but the fruit, all of it, has rotted on the trees both seasons before any of it ripened. They have proved an utter failure in our hands. A dozen peach trees that were set out in 1893 bore heav- ily this past season. All these trees were set out in the 12x100-foot poultry runs, placed twenty feet apart, and the branches now extend over the fences on either side. They furnish an abundance of shade for the fowls, while the fowls reciprocate by fertilizing the soil and destroying bugs, slugs and larvae. As a rule, the fowls will not eat fruit, not even when it, falls to the gtound, Their appetites are soon cloyed. We SUCCESS WITH POULTRY 103 have never seen a fowl of any variety fly into a tree to pick at or eat fruit. Two large plum trees stand in a compara- tively small yard, oceupied by 8S. C. Brown Leghorns. All or nearly all the plums from these trees are gathered after they have fallen to the ground. The fifteen or sixteen Leg- horns in this yard do not offer to eat the ripe plums. They do not like them. Fowls will eat sparingly of ripened or wormy apples, peaches, pears and cherries that fall to the ground, but these fruits (and plums too, for that matter,) should be gathered from the trees. We have six double, 12x30 fost poultry houses that open into yards located in the acre vineyard, and Brahmas, Ply- mouth Rocks, Cochins, and Leghorns have been allowed to run in the grapes the year round for two years past, and they have not injured the vines, nor eaten the fruit to any appreciable extent. We state the facts as we know them, from personal experience, Early in the spring they show a disposition to pick off the green fruit and leaf buds, but they soon turn their attention elsewhere, and what pruning they do to the grapevines does as much good as injury: For three seasons past we have turned thirty to forty Pekin ducks into an eighth of an acre blackberry patch, only waiting until the bushes and weeds get a pretty good start. The ducks remain there all summer and fall, loafing, laying and hatching under the thick, shady bushes, and they do not eat the fruit, nor have they injured the bushes, so far as we ean learn, They help to keep the weeds down. Every year we allow young chicks to run at will in the red and black raspberry patches. They do well there, the shade and cool, mellow ground suiting them ‘‘to a T.’’ Any one can well afford to invest in some fruit trees for the home place. Few investments pay better. They add greatly to the value of a place, and the ‘‘annual dividends’’ are, as 2 rule, large and very welcome. Fifty cents or less invested in a good fruit tree this coming spring will be worth $5 to $10 in two years—and this increased value comes like manna from heaven. The machinery of the Almighty does the work. The sunshine, the rains, the dew and the air enlisti n your service to add to your wealth, to provide delic- ious morsels. for you and yours. A man ought to make his home place as attractive, as productive of comfort as he can. He owes this to his wake; to his children, to his grandchild- ren—to the human race. On the writer’s home place ripe fruit can be gathered, any day, from June 1st, when early strawberries are ripe, until late October, when the fall and winter apples have to be gathered to escape freezing weather. First come the strawberries, then cherries, then early apples and plums, then red and black raspberries, then blackberries, more plums and the earliest peaches, then grapes, more peaches and apples, and these last with us until late September, the apples lasting until late October. To us it is a great pleas- ure to work among the fruit what little time we can spare. We present herewith interesting contributions on the subject of fruit growing: PLUMS AND POULTRY CAN BE SUCCESSFULLY RAISED TOGETHER. By FT. H. Scott, Breeder. At your request I will give -you my experience with poultry and fruit culture combined. I do not run a large poultry farm, nor yet a fruit farm, but J grow poultry and fruit on part of three city lots. My experience for twelve years is that a better quality of fruit and a very much larg- er crop can be raised where poultry has free range among the fruit trees. I grow plums in all my chicken yards. I dig up the yards early in spring, half each year, and seed with clover and grass seed for my chickens. I use all my new manure on the land and around the plum trees, also all the wood ashes we make are put around the trees. In this way I get a double crop—a crop of chickens and one of plums. The plum trees answer as a shade for my chicks, which I claim jis necessary, no matter what color of fowls you are breeding. Some claim that only white fowls require shade, but every chick requires shade in warm weather, and the more shade the better the plumage, even on black fowls. I breed Lang- shans exclusively and prefer lots of shade if I want to have a good, rich-plumage. I have city water or a hydrant in my yards and can sprinkle yards and trees at my pleasure. J have also a bone cutter, which works fine, and I would not be without one again for twice the cost of it. I had a very fine crop of plums this season, and have sent a photo of part of one side of a Lombard tree. This tree is nine years old and hag had three heavy loads—this year it had eight bushels of very choice fruit. Several other trees had five and six bushels each, while the general run of plum trees in this vicinity did not bear extra well. In regard to what. variety of plums are most profitable as early bearers and heavy loaders, I will say that I have fourteen kinds, but I prefer the Lombard, Abundance, Ship- per’s Pride, German Prune and Imperial Gage. All plum trees should be eut back when planted at least half the previous year’s growth, the root then being more able to support and nourish the top. They should also be cut back the second year and the centers opened out and shaped properly. If this is done while the tree is young you will not have to ¢ut off large limbs when the tree is older, endangering its life. I sprayed my plum trees three times with Paris green, just when the blossoms were dropping and twice afterward, about a week apart. T. H. SCOTT. FRUIT AND POULTRY TOGETHER. Some years ago there was a small farm of twenty acres put up at public sale to settle an estate. It was situated near the Pennsylvania railroad. and within five minutes walk of the station. The writer of this account attended the sale, was the highest bidder, and of course got the prop- erty. He had previously been growing trees and plants on his father’s farm and had an inclination that way. He was .also interested in poultry and used the few place for the production of both. He paid $4,200 for the property—earn- ings made in previous years in trees and poultry without any outside help. He started with half a bushel of peach stones and afterwards planted ten, then twenty bushels as sales increased. ‘ He raised pure-bred Light Brahmas; got headquarters stock to start with and soon was getting the prices he first gave and his customers became yearly buyers. Some years ago the neighborhood became more thickly settled, and a considerable of the surrounding properties, in- cluding these twenty acres, were incorporated into a bor- ough, and improvements went rapidly on, making a demand for building lots. All the old buildings, with three acres of ground, were sold for nearly what the whole cost at first. More of the property went in small lots for about one thou- sands dollars an acre, leaving only about ten acres to plant on and raise poultry. A new residence was built on the «higher portion of the ground and several new poultry houses were also -put up. Other ground was rented to raise nursery stock and the business was kept up. No two occupations work better together than fruit and poultry raising. A yard in which chickens have been kept 104 s SUCCESS WITH POULTRY for a few years, becomes well fertilized and in best condition for growing all small fruits. .Since wire netting has become so common it is easy to grow berries, etc., in one place and poultry in another; occupied at different times by both. Stakes driven in with an ax can be used to fasten the wire netting to, and it is easily removed to another place, when fresh ground is required. .. Often the neighbors’ poultry is troublesome and their dogs quite as much of an annoyance. Here the wire netting comes in play again. I enclosed three and one-half acres with it to very good advantage, saving many dollars worth of young stock just coming up, also berries, grapes, ete. In winter when the ground is free from snow, the chick- ens are let run among the trees, taking exercise, which makes them healthy fowls. They lay better than when kept’ all the time in one enclosure. Where two or more varieties: are kept they can be let out alternately. The chicken yards are the best places to plant peach, cherry and plum trees. They thrive wonderfully there and often require a thinning out of the fruit to obtain best results. J. A. ROBERTS. DISEASES OF POULTRY How to Prevent, How to Treat, How to Cure—Remember the Old Adage, “An Ounce of Pre- : vention is Better Than a Pound of Cure.” of their buildings, and apply a proper system of feeding, have little fear in this lirection. The best remedy is the keeping in mind at all times the old adage that ‘‘An:ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.’’ Fowls need but little medicine if properly cared for, the essential features of which are being well pro’ tected from the wind and rain, having dry, clean, light warm and well-ventilated quarters, with a good grass run in the summer and plenty of fresh, cool water. If these conii- tions are complied with, and the fowls are well. fed, we would be willing to insure poultrymen against disease, un less it be introduced by some fowl that was already diseased. ROUP. Roup is an inflammation of the menfbraneous lining of the air passages, which often makes its appearance in the cleft palate, the mouth and the eyes. It is more destructive and harder to handle when let run awhile than cholera.. first symptoms are slightly catarrhal, affecting the appetite B REEDERS who look well to the sanitary arrangement t and health of the chick but very little, and in the second stage it becomes ulecrous or diphtherial roup, and is nearly related to malignant diphtheria in the human family. It is caused from filth, bad food, cold and wet. The eyes water, the nostrils are closed, breathing becomes deep and difficult. together with coughing and suffocation. Treatment.—Pen up every fowl in dry, warm quarters; keep out all the drafts of cold, damp air, feed hot bran, mashed potatoes and meat, and medicate the throat, mouth and nostrils with chloride of sodium or comon salt, as fol- ‘lows: Take a bucketful of warm salt water, put a teacup of salt to this amount of water; then, catching the fowl, exam- ine the throat and nostrils, removing all chessy matter and pressing all mucous matter out of the nostrils, and then fill- ing a pint eup for each afflicted fowl, hold it by.the feet with head down, choke it until the mouth is wide open and then insert the head into the solution, comb down, so that the medicated water may enter the cleft in the palate and go out at each nostril and into the throat. Each should be separ- ately treated. Not all from the same water, but one cup will do for all. Kerosene injected into the nostrils is good; also camphorated sweet oil. Ten drops of coal oil or kerosene added to two quarts of water for a flock of twenty fowls will often effect a cure, but when this remedy is applied do not attempt to prepare one of the flock for table use. for three or four weeks thereafter, as the entire carcass will be tainted with coal oil. A great deal of this trouble may be avoided _from all drafts and feed easily fligested foods. Its -and drooping appearance, and does not plume itself; by keeping your poultry clean and their quarters free from dampness. q Important.—In treating roup, be carcful to remove any discharge from the nostrils that may collect on the feathers under the wings or on the breast. Whisky or aleohol will wash off this discharge. Be sure to protect the sick fowls When the fowls look stupid and droopy, feathers ruffled and no appe- tite, reduce their food even to fasting. If digestion is im- paired give the following: Tincture of Nux Vomica......... 1 drachm Alcohol dil, (half water)...... ,...9 drachms., Mix. Add 15 drops to half pint of water and let the sick fowls use it.as a drink once or twice daily until better. This is a valuable stomach tonic, especially when the food disa- grees, ‘ Compound tincture of chinchona, 20 drops in a half pint of water, is often serviceable as a general tonic. It often occurs that fowls have swellings of the head and feet which sometimes are troublesome. Where it is possi- ble, use a bandage or compress with warm water; then apply “the following: Oxide of Zine Ointment.......... 1 ounce Stramonium Ointment............ ¥Y% ounce Mix. This can be applied in all cases where an oint- ment is necessary. : CHOLERA. This disease is caused principally by keeping too many fowls in a limited space, bad sanitary eee un- wholesome or irregular food, ete. Symptoms.—The symptoms of chicken Rites are not well understood by the people generally, and it is probable that some men have that disease ‘‘on the brain,’’ so much so, in fact, that whenever they lose fowls by an unusual disease that they do not understand they attribute their death to cholera. Many fowls go to their graves, so to speak, by other diseases, and cholera is blamed for sending them there. Some of the prominent symptoms we give, and, so far as known, the condition of the internal organs. External Symptoms.—The fowls has a dejected, sleepy it is very thirsty, has a slow, stalking gait, and gapes often. Sometimes the fowl staggers and falls down from great weakness, The comb and wattles lose their natural color, generally turning pale, but sometimes they are dark. There is diarrhoea with a greenish discharge, or like sulphur and SUCCESS WITH POULTRY 105 water, afterwards it becomes.thin and frothy. Prostration comes on, the crop fills with mucus and wind, and at last the food is not digested, breathing is heavy and fast, the eyes close, and in few hours the fowl dies. ; When fowls die it is very easy to say that they died of cholera, and so let it go; but if the symptoms were not sub- stantially as given above, an autopsy would show that it was not that disease. On dissecting a fowl that has died of cholera, the gizzard will be found to be filled with dried-up or sometimes with a greenish matter, and the crop will be inflated with sour mucus and food. The liver will be much enlarged and flabby, and so tender that it will easily mash in the hand, and gen- erally split open, and in every case is much congested. The crop and intestines are much inflamed, and the latter are filled with a greenish matter. The heart is also sometimes enlarged. Treatment.—At once remove all affected birds,to a com. fortably warm room, well lighted, the floor covered to a depth of: three or four inches with clean straw or like sub- stance. Let the drink be scanty, using freely ‘‘Douglas Mixture;’’ allow no other water. . Dr. 8. J. Parker, of New York State, gives the following excellent prescription to be given in the earlier or indiges- tive stage of the disease, and. we advise giving it a trial as soon as the fowls show symptoms of being affected. He says: ‘‘T find it best to force down the fowl’s throat Euca- lyptus globulus, ten drops of the strong tincture, common salt four to six grains, and half a teaspoonful of ground cayenne (red) pepper. One dose in a teaspoonful of water to be given at once. If the dose takes effect digestion is re- sumed, and in tweuty-four hours the fowl is relieved or de- eidedly better.’’ ; The droppings must be drenched with the sulphuric acid water to destroy the germs and prevent the disease from spreading. When the birds are fed they should have only cooked food. Our experience and observation leads us to ~believe that if they can be cured at all, this treatment will give them the best chance for life. To Prevent Cholera: 1. Remove all the affected birds. 2. Give tonics, liver stimulants and aids to digestion. 3. Give the fowls more space. This may be accom- plished by diminishing the number of fowls or by increasing the area of their range and of their houses. 4. The poultry house should be thoroughly ventilated and be kept clean and dry. i 5. The buildings, yards and places of resort should be theroughly disinfected. 6. Give the fowls a ‘‘preventive’’ that will destroy or render inert the poison ;they have taken into their system. There is nothing known that will accomplish this as quickly and effectually as ¢oal oil. The coal oil should be given three or four times a week, as follows: Take a feeding of corn or wheat and let it soak in the oil a few hours, then feed it to the fowls-or mix in soft feed one tablespoonful to two quarts of cornmeal. CROP BOUND. Cause.—An over-amount of food given when the fowls are in good condition and when they have a ravishing appe- tite. Here we wish to calk your attention to the danger of neglecting to feed for one or two days, then allowing the fowls access to all they can eat. Whole flocks have been ex- terminated from just this manner of feeding, and the owner would realize his misfortune by declaring it was cholera and advising his neighbors to have nothing to do with poultry. The complaint is liable to affect fowls and chicks in con- finement where no range is allowed, and in nearly every case the real cause is overfeeding them indigestible food. In most instances death is sure to follow, unless properly treat- ed. It only requires about twenty-four hours for the symp- toms to manifest themselves. The disease may be quickly relieved, as follows: Open the crop on the side, lengthwise, cutting a slit sufficiently long to remove all the contents, using a sharp knife. After this is done, thoroughly cleanse with warm water; then close with several stitéhes, care be- ing taken not to sew the skin of the bird to the sack of the crop. Close the crop first, using coarse white linen thread; also have knot come on inside of crop; then take a few stitches in the skin. Place the fowl in dry, warm quarters; give no water the first twenty-four hours, and feed on soft food for two days. It will soon recover. CANKER. Cause,—Badly housed, uncleanliness, musty or unwhole- some food. Symptoms.—The breaking out of cancerous running sores on the head, in mouth or throat, accompanied with a watery discharge from the eyes and mucous secretion of the mouth and throat. Treatment.—Wash the head and eyes and swab out the mouth and throat with a diluted solution of chlorate of pot- ash and alum, equal parts, containing one-half water, and remove the ulcers with a quill, and apply nitrate of silver or powdered borax to the places left bare, to be repeated twice a day; also mix a teaspoonful of powdered sulphur in the food. : BUMBLE FOOT. i Causes.—This is caused by the birds roosting on a small, uneven perch, or in flying down from a high one upon a hard surface, thereby bruising their feet. It occurs mostly with the heavier varieties of fowls. Symptoms.—It commences with a small swelling or corn in the ball of the foot, which enlarges, becomes soft and finally uleerates. Treatment.—Riemove the bird to a place without perches. If the foot becomes ulcerated, first wash out the sore with eastile soap and warm water, then dip the foot in a solution of one-fourth ounce of sulphate of copper to a quart of water; this may be repeated two or three times a day. If taken in time a cure may be affected by painting the part with iodine. When the tumor is soft or in the form of an abscess, puncture it with a knife and press out the matter, after which cauterize the part with nitrate of silver. A linseed poultice bound securely on the affected foot will work a cure in many eases. LEG WEAKNESS. Cause.—This complaint should not be confounded with the previous one. It often arises from the inbreeding of the same strain of fowls for too long a period; but is usually caused by too ‘high feeding, which increases the weight of the body out of proportion to the muscular strength of the legs; it more generally occurs in the large breeds, such as Cochins and Brahmas, particularly in the cockerels, Symptoms.—Squatting around on their hocks, after standing a short time, as if tired; in bad cases they are unable to stand on their feet at all. \ Treatment.—In an early stage give the following pill twice or three times a day: One grain of sulphate of iron, five grains of phosphate of lime and half a grain of quinine. CHICKEN POX. ‘ Causes.—This disease is frequently caused by unfavor- able conditions of the atmosphere, and generally occurs in cold, wet weather. It is of an infectious character. 106 SUCCESS WITH POULTRY Symptoms.—The head, face or body is+covered with small ulcers, containing an infectious matter. Treatment.—First wash with castile soap, and then with a strong solution of chlorate of potash; also mix a little pul- verized charcoal and sulphur in the soft food, about a tea- spoonful of each to a pint of meal. Anoint the head with “‘Carbolate of Cosmoline’’ until cured. ; Carbolate of Cosmoline consists merely of vaseline with about three drops of carkolie acid to the ounce of vaseline. Mix well. GAPES. Causes.—Foul water, exposure to wet, damp places, par- ticularly at night, want of nourishing food, ete. Symptoms.—The general symptoms, as the name im- plies, consist in constant gaping, coughing and sneezing, to- gether with inactivity and loss of appetite. Treatment.—Give the bird daily, until it recovers, a small piece of camphor about as large as a grain of wheat, and add a few drops of camphor or turpentine to the drink- ing water, or.mix with the food, about ten drops to the pint. DOUGLAS MIXTURE. ‘Douglas Mixture’’ is made thus: Take of sulphate of iron (common copperas), 8 ounces; sulphuric acid, % fiuid ounce. Put into a bottle or jug one gallon of water, into this put the sulphate of iron. As soon as the iron ig dissolved add the acid; and when it is clear, the ‘‘mixture’’ is ready for use. In hot weather, or when the flock is small, less may be prepared at once, but the above proportion should be ob- served. This ‘‘mixture’’ or tonic should be given in the drinking water every other day—a gill for every twenty-five head is not too much—and where there is infection it must be used every day, but where there is no disease, not so often, or in smaller quantities if it be used every day. This preparation, simple as it is, is one of the best ton- ies for poultry known. It is alterative as well as tonic, and "possesses, besides, antiseptic properties which make it a remedy as well as a tonic. DIARRHOEA AND DYSENTERY. Cause.—This is in many cases not a disease, but a symp- tom. Indigestion causes diarrhoea and the first object of the poudtryman who has fowls so troubled should be to think over his method of feeding. The requisites for poultry, aside from the grain and animal food that is invariably fed, is grit and green food. These two necessaries are invaluable in keeping the digestive organs in good condition. One of the effects of lice is diarrhoea, in fact diarrhoea is a complaint that may in many cases be remedied by clear- ing away the droppings and dust that infest many poultry houses and harbor lice. In some cases boiled rice will improve the condition of the fowls after the precautions named have been taken. A small quantity of cooked mash given at frequent intervals will be beneficial. Never feed a full meal of this. If not treated upon the first symptoms appearing, diar- rhoea may develop into dysentery. Symptoms.—The symptoms of dysentery are the same as those in diarrhoea in a more aggravated form. The watery discharges become streaked with more or less blood, and general weakness is very pronounced. Treatment.—Prevent all exposure to cold and dampness, keep everything about those affected scrupulously clean. Give milk and lime water as prepared for diarrhoea, with a half teaspoonful of whisky added. Af the outset of the at- tack give a haif teaspoonful of castor oil. An eastern authority, writing on the subject of dysen- tery, says: ‘‘Dysentery is due to overfeeding, by whie. the liver is gorged with bile and its function is arrested. The bowels are then disturbed by the presence of the bile and un- digested matter, and the action of them is greatly increased, with cramps and spasms, due to the increased effort to expel the erude, offensive matter. The best thing to be done is to help nature in this, and to give a purgative, such as a small rhubarb pill, at night, inclosed in a small ball of butter or lard. As much powdered rhubarb as will make a pill, when mixed with molasses, as large as a sweet pea, is sufficient, and one should be given every evening. The food should be soft and nutritious, as oatmeal or linseed, boiled thick and given in balls, if not eaten readily. This medicine is recom- mended mostly for the fowl when first taken, and if a few only are affected the whole flock should be treated as a pre- caution. As a rule, there is but very little risk of infection even from a closely neighboring flock, if the fowls are fed and cared for as they should be, the house kept scrupulously clean, the food good and varied, as above suggested, and not in excess; if pure water is given in abundance, and the tem- perature regulated so that no extremes of cold, or, indeed, of * heat, are permitted, but when coddling is the rule, one may look out for sick fowls.’’ CONGESTION OF THE LIVER. By congestion of the liver is meant’ an increase in the amount of blood in the organ. Owing to the arrangement of its vessels, the circulation in the liver is influenced by the condition of the heart and lungs, and by the state of diges- tion. It is therefore very liable to suffer from change in blood supply. : Causes.—Excesses in eating; insufficient supply of sharp grit. The admission of irritating substances to the blood, as cayenne pepper, condition powders, etc., increase the ten- deney to congestion. When the heart is affected and the proper amount of blood is not forced through, an abnormal fullness of the venous system results and the liver is the first organ after the lungs to suffer congestion thus caused. Symptoms.—A general langour is apparent; the face as- sumes a yellowish color; loss of appetite; diarrhoea is fre- quently present and great tenderness is evident upon pres- sure over the region of the liver. Treatment.—Avoid all stimulants. The food should be some easily digested substance, as boiled oatmeal. ‘Give one teaspoonful of Epsom Salts dissolved in water once daily for three days. Congestion of the liver will frequently cure itself if the bird is given access to plenty of grit and the diet is restricted to plain foods in moderate quantities. ° ACUTE RHEUMATISM. ; Definition.—Acute rheumatism is a constitutional dis- ease, characterized by fever and inflammation of the joints, occurring in succession. Causes.— Whether dampness, cold or sudden chilling are direct causes, or are predisposing influences, is a question, but certain it is that attacks of this disease are more numer- ous when these conditions exist. Symptoms.—Thirst and constipation oceur. The legs become painful and refuse to support the body. Upon exam- ination one or more of the joints are found to be ‘hot ana swollen. Very soon, probably the next day, other joints be- ~eome affected, and those first attacked become less painful, and the swelling subsides. This tendency to migrate or shift from one joint to another is the most characteristic symp- tom of acute rheumatism. When there are no complications, the fowls begin to move about the fifteenth day and are restored to health in about three weeks. SUCCESS WITH POULTRY Treatment.—There are a host: of remedies for rheuma- tism. Salicylic acid in two-grain doses, in capsules, every four hours, is probably the best, but has the disadvantage of requiring too much time to administer. Another good rem- edy is to dissolve half an ounce of bicarbonate of potash in half a pint of the drinking water. To breed from birds sub- ject to attacks of this disease is dangerous, as there is great posibility that the disease wil manifest itself in succeeding generations. WORMS IN POULTRY. The symptoms are sometimes like those of the gapes, the chicks gasping for breath and sometimes coughing, but a careful examination of the wind pipe when dissected may fail to reveal any worms there. Then give the following treatment for worms in the intestines, as it has proved suc- cessful in several cases: Two tablespoonfuls santonine. Two tablespoonfuls sulphur. Two tablespoonfuls powdered charcoal. Two tablespoonfuls salt. One-half teaspoonful cayenne pepper. One tablespoonful powdered copperas. Half of the above was mixed with six quarts of coarse cornmeal, scalded to a erumbly consistency and fed for sup- per to 200 chickens. The following morning four table- spoonfuls of sulphur was mixed with four quarts of meal, shghtly moistened with warm—not boiling—water and fed for breakfast. In two days the chickens seemed more active and the cough was greatly lessened. The dose was repeated at the end of the week. It might be repeated at long inter- vals during the summer as a preventative measure if the malady was bad the first season. Dusting with lime was tried, also smoking with sulphur, using a bee smoker for the purpose, but neither lime nor sul- phur, taken by inhalation, was of any benefit. COLDS. Cause.—All or nearly all ailments to which domestic poultry is heir to start from a cold, Like human beings, they contract slight colds at every change of the weather. If these colds are attended to at once, they go as they come, but if allowed to. become firmly seated, turn into canker and roup. Symptoms. We have known instances where birds in the pink of condition contracted colds and commenced to dump and appear lifeless, refuse to eat and develop an unquenchablé thirst, all within five hours, but more fre- quently it shows itself in the form of swelled head, a slight watery discharge from the nostrils or a coarse, rattling sound in the throat. Remedy.—If fowls so affected are attended to at once, no further trouble is experienced. A two-grain capsule of quinine administered night and morning will generally break up the most severe attack. When the bird has the ‘‘rattles’’ and finds it difficult to breathe, paint the exposed outside surface of the throat, between the wattles and around the outside portions of jaws with tincture of iodine and give two-grain capsuls of quinine night and morning. Where the head is swelled paint around the eye and whole of affected side of face and give quinine as mentioned above until cure is affected. CONSUMPTION. Causes.—It often arises in breeding in and in for too Jong a period, but most generally it is caused by a neglected cold, or being confined in dark, unhealthy places, which eause scrofulous tubercles on the lungs, liver and other erganizations of the body. ‘ - 107 Symptoms.—The symptoms are hardly noticeable in the early stages of the disease. In the more advanced. state there is a cough with a wasting of flesh, and, consequent- ly, indications of weakness, notwithstanding they are well fed. It is considered hereditary, and birds so affected should not be bred from. Treatment.—Take a sharp hatchet and apply it just back of the comb. The bird will never be of use, either to breed or eat. ¢ APOPLEXY, VERTIGO, EPILEPSY. Causes.—Undue flow of blood to the head, which is usually caused by overfeeding. Symptoms.—Running around in a cirele or fluttering about, with apparently little “gontrol of the muscular actions. Treatment.—Holding the head under a stream of eold water for a short time will arrest the disease; then place the bird in a somewhat darkened place by itself; feed spar- ingly on soft food for a few days. If this fails to cure, bleed from the large vein under the wing. Cut the vein length- wise with a lancet or sharp knife; also give an aperient or a tablespoonful of castor oil to a eae fowl, or teaspoonful to a small one. SORE EYES. Causes.—Overheating, dust, dampness or climatic chang- es. Symptoms.—An apparent watering of the eyes, which, if not attended to timely, will turn into ulcerations. Treatment.—Wash the eyes with castile soap and water, and give sulphur in food, and wash the eyes with diluted sulphate of lead. COSTIVENESS AND CONSTIPATION. Cause.—Too long continued feeding on dry food, with- out sufficient green vegetables, want of a sufficient supply of pure drinking -water, or too close confinement. Symptoms.—Unsuccessful attempts of the fowls to re- lieve themselves, although they make frequent efforts to do so, and when they succeed it is in small quantities and is hard and dark. Treatment.—Give plenty of green food, mix bran and oat meal into soft food, and give ten drops of sulphate of magnesia to a pint of drinking water. BRONCHITIS. Causes.—The same cause that produces pip will cause bronchitis. Symptoms.—Rattling in the throat when breathing, caus- ed by cold settling on the lungs of the fowl, and the for- mation of mueus therefrom rising in the windpipe. If not checked, it is likely to result in consumption. Treatment.—Remove to a dry place, and give Reliable Roup Coure with the feed, and slightly acidulate the drink- ing water with sulphuric and nitrie acid. DEBILITY. | Causes.—Overshowing at exhibitions, close confinement without fresh air, or it may be produced by a severe shock. Symptoms.—Drooping without apparent cause, want of appetite, out of condition and general prostration, Treatment.—Feed on good, wholesome food, a little at a time, give a raw egg daily until the appetite appears to “return, when change to a little cooked meat, and put in ten drps of tincture of muriate of iron in the drinking water. BLACK ROT. Causes.—This disease is generally caused by want of exercise, continued sameness of food, indigestion and want of green food. : 108 SUCCESS WITH POULTRY Symptoms.—Comb turning black, swelling of the feet and legs, accompanied Ly gradual emaciation. Treatment.—The same as prescribed for indigestion will generally prove effective. HERNIA. Or Protrusion of the Egg Passage. Causes.—It is caused by the exertions of the hen to ex- pel an unusually large egg, or in old fowls the general relax- ation of the system. Symptoms.—Protrusion of the laying ‘gut of the hen, which is forced out to such an extent after laying that it oftentimes does not recede. Treatment.—Put the hen on a diet of rice and boiled potatoes. If the gut shows no inclination of receding itself, bathe the parts with lukewarm water, and after rubbing the protrusion with witch hazel, linseed or sweet oil, gently press it back into the body. Give daily a pill composed of two grains of calomel, one-quarter of a grain of tartar emetic, and one grain of opium; the above iis for a large fowl, one-half a pill will be sufficient for a small bird. Do not give the fowl any stimulating food. : SOFT EGGS. Causes.—Overfeeding and the want of the proper mater- ial for the hens to eat so as to form the shell. Symptoms,—More or less inflamation of the egg passage, - and the appearance of the egg itself. Treatment.—Restrain from overfeeding, aud place with- in reach of the hens plenty of old mortar or crushed oyster shells. Where it arises from the inflammation of the egg passage, give bolus of barley containing one grain of calomel and half a grain of tartar‘emetic. BAD MOULTING. Causes.—Though molting may not be classified as a dis- ease, it is considered the most critical period of the. year for old fowls. A greater drain is upon the system of the fowl during its change of feathers than at any other time, as not only does the life-giving process of nature have to be sustained, but an entire new coat has to be grown. But moulting is generally caused by either too close confine- ment, improper food or a constitutional weakness of the fowl, occasioned by too long in-and-in breeding. Symptoms.—A general wasting away, inactivity of the bird during the time of process of moulting. Treatment.—Take good care that ‘the fowl is kept warm, and not allowed to go in the wet or rain; give soft, warm food in the morning, with good grain mixed with hemp seed in the. evening, also a little chopped meat daily, or bread soaked in ale; also add our Reliable Roup Tonie to the drinking water, a teaspoonful to a pint of water. CHICKEN POX. Causes.—This disease is frequently caused by unfavor- able conditions of the atmosphere and generally occurs in cold, wet weather. It is of an infectious character. Symptoms.—The head, face or body is covered with small uleers, containing an infectious matter. ‘ Treatment.—First wash with castile soap, and then with a strong solution of chlorate of potash; also mix a little pulverized charcoal and sulphur in the soft food, about a teaspoonful of each to a pint of meal. Anoint the head with ‘‘Carbolate of Cosmoline’’ until cured. FROSTED COMB AND WATTLES. Causes.—Exposure to cold, freezing weather, more par- ticularly at night. Symptoms.—Discoloration of the top of the comb and edges of the’ wattles, which first turn a purplish color and afterwards become pale and bloodless. Treatment.—Anoint the parts with the witch hazel oil, bathe with cold water, after which apply glycerine and ‘¢Carbolate of Cosmoline.’’ VERMIN. : Causes.—Filthiness of quarters, foul nests, want of earth haths. Symptoms.—General wasting away, with a constant pecking and scratching of the body. Treatment.—Clean out and fumigate the hen house by closing it up tight and burning sulphur therein; make new nests, with a dust bath mixed with powdered carbolate of lime, also put into the roots of the feathers of the fowls Persian insect powder, and if the bird appears suffering from debility, treat it the same as already prescribed. CONTAGIOUS DISEASES. Colds, roup, diphtheria are highly catching, and such cases should at once be isolated. Birds suffering from diar- rhoea or cholera should be parted also, as they make the ground very unhealthy .for the other stock. The slightest ailment should at first be treated as contagious and igola- tion effected. When the nature of the complaint is diseov- ered, treat accordingly. Doctoring poultry is most trouble- some and very expensive; prevention is better than cute. CROWDING: ' One of the commonest, evils, and most fatal t6 success. Most amateurs go in for several breeds of poultry. Would advise starting with one or two breeds at first. The birds may be kept in comparative comfort during the winter months, but in the breeding scason when the chickens begin to come, and in August, when pullets have to be separated from, cockeyels, and these again in October kept separate from adult hens—when these also have to be parted from their mates, and exhibition birds require each their roomy and separate pen—it is impossible to rear many breeds suc- cessfully, each having its perfect exhibition specimen. For this, space is a matter of necessity. DAMPNESS. Dampness in poultry houses is especially injurious to health. Care should be taken to stop all leakage, and to insure dry sleeping places. Birds will bear being out on.a grass-run on the wettest days better than being housed in a damp place. Carelessness in this respect is the source of colds, inflammation of the stomach and liver disease, and is apt to develop scrofulous deposits should the strain be weakly in any way. DROPPING EGGS. ° This is caused by too stimulating diet, also by want of lime, oyster shells or grit for shell formation, also by the hens being too fat. Feed less, give no meat for a time, vary the diet with rice, potatoes and wheat. Give a dose or two of castor oil, and iron tonic in the water. Should this not cure the evil, give one grain of calomel and one-twelfth grain of tartar emetic. DUSTING. Poultry are in the habit of cleaning themselves in dry dust, mortar, rubbish or ashes by scratching the dust up in their feathers, This keeps them in health, and prevents: vermin. Provide a dust bath for the purpose—a good large box with sides about a foot high filled with dust, dry screened mortar refuse, road scrapings, fine gravel or sand,_ or let the whole sheltered run be covered deep in the above, in which case no special bath is necessary. Hens are wretch- ed if this absolute necessity for their comfort is not studied. The dust bath, however, has its dangers in the case of hens with newly hatched broods. ‘ SUCCESS WITH POULTRY 109. BONE DUST. Very beneficial for the feeding of growing birds up to five or six months of age; a preventive of weak legs and diarrhoea; an aid also in postponing the development of young birds, while it provides materials needful for contin- uous growth, and gives strength and size to the frame. It should be about the fineness of coarse oatmeal, and should be sifted into and with the meals used, in the proportion of three ounces to the pound. Fresh bones chopped and pounded, or burnt bones, are not so useful for the above purposes as they are for laying stock or for birds of an age for exhibition. ’ HEREDITARY DISEASES AND EVILS. 5 Consumption is the disease most carefully to be guarded against. A consumptive strain will be a constant source of care and disappointment. Squirrel tail is sure to be repro- duced in many of the young birds. Wry tail is also hered- itary.. Crooked breasts, thumb marks on combs or any pecu- liarity in the spikes of the comb, white face where red is the _ proper color, is dangerously hereditary, car-lobes splashed or marked with red where pure white is a point, vulture hock, all these defects will be reproduced. Birds with malforma- tions or anything missing, such as being short a toe, or having any peculiarities, should not be used for breeding. HOSPITAL. : Every poultry yard in which, say, even 100 birds are reared yearly, should be provided with a place specially cevoted to penning sick birds, where an invalid can be at once isolated and properly doctored. This place must be open to the sun, screened from the east wind, dust dry, freely ventilated, yet free from UYraught, and warm. The hospital should be whitewashed with hot lime frequently, and perfect cleanliness maintained. PULLETS NOT LAYING. : If they are over six months old, they are either over-fed, which can be ascertained by feeling their condition and weighing, or under-fed. If pullets are much exhibited and the runs often changed, this will prevent egg production. Should the birds be thin, give meat and a little stimulant, such as buckwheat and sunflower seed; if fat, reduce diet and give an aperient. Constant exhibiting is very fatal to laying. EARLY OPENING OF HOUSES. This has much to do with health, and if birds that rise with the sun are shut up in close, ill-ventilated roosting- places till 7 or 8 a. m., no success will attend the. misman- aging owner. The roeseue house should open into a covered run, which the birds can enter at their own free will, to find a little food and to amuse themselves till the attendant comes his rounds, which he must do in summer at 6 a. m. TO PREVENT LAYING. Birds for show have, at times, to be kept back. They are in show form just when they begin to lay, and never look so well after. If they are early and’ you wish to delay laying, and so prolong the period of growth, move the pullets about from one run to another. SLIPPED WING. This chiefly oceurs with fast-growing cockerels and . ducklings. The primary feathers, which are naturally tuck- ed up out of sight, stick or trail out; the bird has no power to tuck them up. Should the same feathers stick out and appear twisted, so that the inside of the quill is outside, it is probably an hereditary evil. In the first instance, it fre- quently occurs from a number of cocks being kept together, giving rise to some ill treatment, constant racing about and nervous flapping’ of the wings; these being soft and delicate Ay as yet, the birds fail to fold them in closely, and a habit is acquired of letting them hang down out of place. Tucking them up into place when the bird is asleep at night is some- times effectual. But the best way is to sew a band around the wing-feathers near the shoulder, and attach this to an- other which is passed round the joint of thé wing, to prevent it slipping off. It is work of patience and difficulty. FRESH BLOOD. If birds are bred in-and-in too closely, many evils will ensue—loss of size, fewer eggs will be laid and a general want of stamnia will be observable. It is well, therefore, occasionally to purchase a cock from one of the best yards, and if it is for show purposes, ascertain the pedigree and if possible see the pen from which he was hatched. It is the easiest thing in the world to introduce a glaring defect into your flock, and one of the most difficult to breed a fault out. Where birds are kept in separate runs and pens the produce for the following year or two will not be so nearly related as to require invigorating by fresh blood; in -faet, any large breeder of a well-known strain will be very shy of introducing new stock for any purpose. By a wise system of crossing and separation, thoroughly unrelated birds can be kept ready to hand for the mating season. FEATHER EATING. A horrid practice, one might almost call a disease, to which fowls brought up in confinement are liable, which dirt and crowding encourage. IJdleness is one cause; poultry are often kept in a pen where they have no means of scratching about or amusing themselves. The earth should be forked up, thrown into heaps, and straw thrown over it. This will give occupation and tend to arrest the evil. Want of fresh water is another source of the disease; the water should be replenished often, and kept in the shade. Cabbages tied up whole and tightly to the wall of pens will amuse and serve to pass the time, and a piece of meat hung on the wall furnish good exercise. : FIGHTING. ‘ Extreme care should be taken to prevent this amongst show birds, as five minutes’ sparring may upset all chance of a special or prize by injury to comb or feathers. Nail up cloth to all partitions eighteen to twenty-four inches high; this prevents all danger. In cold weather’ a severe fight may be serious. If the birds are ailing after it, put nitrie acid in the water sufficient to taste it, and give a capsule of cod liver oil with quinine thrice daily. Slip a raw egg down the bird’s throat now and then till vigor is restored. : HANDLING FOWLS. If you catch a bird, leaving its wings free, a desperate struggle will ensue, likely to injure exhibition plumage, or to distract a broody hen from her vocation. Approach the bird from behind, place both hands firmly and quickly over the wing joints, then slip the right hand down and secure the legs firmly. All fluttering will thus be avoided, and the bird, held by the legs with the left hand, will not offer re- sistance. All catching and handling of fowls should be done at night, or after first making the pen dark, if this is feasible. WASHING EXHIBITION BIRDS. ' Get two tubs, fill the smaller one with a good lather of soap and water (for one bird half a pound of white soap is sufficient); stand the bird in the lather and wash it, using a softish hair brush, and with it your hand. Thoroughly brush and cleanse the feathers everywhere, leaving no: spot untouched, and don’t be afraid of wetting thoroughly. Use no half measure, and take care not to bend or brush the 110 SUCCESS WITH POULTRY feathers the wrong way. This done, having prepared warm water in the larger and deeper tub, dip the bird in and out freeiy and thoroughly rinse every vestige of lather out; jastiy, take a can ox merely chited water (may be very sugutly tinted with blue tor white birds) and pour this over the bird, drain and dry as tar as you can in a Lurkish towel, place tne bird in an exnibition coop and set it at a comfortable distance trom the fire. As the bird dries and filuffs out, gradually diaw away from the fire. Leave tne birds all night in a warm kitcoen, and next morning place them in their own preparing pen, which, meantime, has — been laid deep in fresh straw. Let them rest here for twenty-four hours, or twelve at any rate, before the journey, otherwise a risk of cold is incurred. After the bath, when still wet, give a teaspoonful of wine, and later a meal of bread and meat scraps, which are gratefully devoured as a rule; by and by a handful of wheat as a treat cast in the straw will tempt them to scratch for it. A moist warm atmosphere must be kept up in the drying coop, or the feathers will not web properly; place water within reach, and add to it a little tonie. If the birds are not drying properly, try to turn them so that the heat will strike all sides equally. Hard-feath- ered birds, such as Andalusians, Brown Leghorns, Malays, Dominiques, Game, Black Spanish, do not require so much washing. White birds and Asiatics demand the greater care. boiled in water to a jelly. This is much liked, and will lay FEEDING FOR EXHIBITION. Birds for show should be brought up as directed on page 60, and then about three weeks before exhibition special -diet should be given; fresh meat once a day, a piece the size of a walnut; plenty of green food, and twice a week linseed, boiled in water to a jelly. This is much liked, an dwill lay on flesh and produce gloss on feathers. Bread and milk is excellent for birds that are going to or returning from a show; a few handfuls of hemp at odd times, and best wheat will get the birds into grand order. TREATMENT AFTER EXHIBITION. On the arrival of birds from an exhibition, feed them on. soft and (if cold weather) warm food, containing a little of our ‘‘Poultry Tonie’’; give a very little water containing a tonic. See that they are housed very warm. If they are shortly due at another show, give bread and milk for one meal daily, and rice and milk with meat. loaded with Indian corn, feed very sparingly, even of soft food, at first, and if it feels hard, give a teaspoonful of gin on arrival; it will aid digestion. VENTILATION. Is a neglected but most important subject. Poultry houses are often either draughty or they are unventilated; if the first, the birds are always uncomfortable, and a late egg supply, owing to cold housing, will be the result; if the latter, serious disease will follow, such as diphtheria, or the birds will be dull, without appetite, the wings will droop, upright combs will get blue at the tips, and fall over limp and flabby. Besides the door entrance, every roosting house should have a window, which can be left open on hot nights, a wire screen of small mesh should be placed over it to keep out enemies; in the winter a piece of perforated zine is pre- ferable, as it prevents the wind rushing in, and yet gives enough air. If a window is not practicable, a hole under the eaves will answer, covered with zine wire. The higher up ventilating openings are made the better. Foul air rises, and openings must be made or the fowls will suffer. Venti- lating holes should be drilled in all artificial mothers, dryers and shelters; foul air generates very quickly where chickens congregate. If the crop is~- TREATMENT OF SHOW BIRDS. Hatched in the three first months of the year, they must be well fed and housed, and yet allowed perfect freedom on grass runs wherever fine and dry. Soft food should have bone-dust mixed with it, and the meals should be ample and frequent, but never so large as to remain uneaten and to get sour. Meat and green food should be given-in plenty. At from three to four months the cockerels should be sep- arated from the pullets; no crowding, no want of cleanliness should be allowed, and no roughing it in bad weather, or the feathers will be soiled. These must be kept spotlessly clean and fresh, and care must be taken that no rough wire or ill-made doors, or awkward perches injure the plumage, on which prizes to a great extent depend. Three weeks be- fore the show, pen the birds, cock and pullet, separately, giving each a friendly companion of their own sex; feed on bread and milk, wheat, and two or three times a week give linseed; boil to a jelly and mix with oatmeal till it is friable; this will gloss the plumage. Also give barley-meal, buck- wheat, a,little hemp and meat. Let the pens be deep in fresh straw, and see that the dust-baths are very clean. Two days before the show give night and morning a meal of rice boiled in milk, stiff, and plenty of wheat: A little meat chopped into the rice is much enjoyed. Rice is to prevent any chance of diarrhoea in the show pens, which entail extra soiiing of the plumage. Green food should be given in plenty, preferably grass, lettuce and spinach. Forty-eight hours before showing, wash the birds if need be. Feed as above until an hour before starting. Lastly, wash the comb, face, ete., with soap and water, dry, and rub over with vin- egar; faye each bird a teaspoonful of wine—they will then sleep instead of fretting on the journey. Inside the hamper, at the side, tie the top of a leaf of bread soaked in port wine, and a head of lettuce, to pick at; this will bring them in good condition to the show pen. If shown in pairs, do not omit, three days before the show, to give the cock or cockerel a hen in his pen, but not one which is to be ex- hibited. He will then not take much notice when the show pullet is introduced into the exhibition hamper, which should be done about three hours before the train leaves to insure that no fighting occurs, GENERAL TREATMENT OF COCKERELS. During the first twenty-four hours give no food, and re- move, till all are hatched, from the hen or incubator to a box having ventilating holes bored in the side, and a hot- water bottle slung by means of coarse flannel, so that the vhicks may feel the warmth and the least pressure on their backs. When all are hatched, cleanse the nest completely, and well dredge the hen’s ody with inseet powder; give het the chicks and place chopped egg and bread-erumbs within reach, The less they are disturbed during the first two or three days the better. Warmth is essential, and a constantly brooding hen is a better mother than one which fusses. the infant chicks about and keeps calling them to feed. Pen the hen in a coop and let the chicks have free egress. The best place to stdnd the coop is under sheltered runs, guarded from cold winds, the ground dry and deep i in sand and mortar siftings. Further warmth is unnecessary if the mothers are good; and if the roof is of glass, so as to secure every ray of sun, so much the better. Cleanliness of coops, beds, flooring, water vessels and food-tins must be absolute. The oftener the chicks are fed the better, but food must never be left uneaten. Water must be made safe, or drowning and chills may be expected. The moment weather permits, free range on grass for several hours daily is desirable, but shelter should always be at hand. SUCCESS WITH POULTRY 111 Diet.—The longer the supply of hard-boiled eggs chop- ' ped fine is kept up, the better. As the birds get on, every kitchen scrap is invaluable, and the following mixtures may be given for meals in turn as convenient, variety being es- sential for success: First meal, as early as possible—6 a, m. —egg chopped, mixed bread erumbs; second meal, kitchen seraps, chopped fine in a wooden chopper, given warm, and mixed to a crumbling mass; third meal, rice boiled in milk, and dried up crumbly with Scotch oatmeal; fourth meal, barley-meal mixed crumbly with the liquor in which meat has been boiled; fifth meal, meat chopped fine and bread reduced to crumbs (not necessary daily.) These prepara- tions given in turn and with judgment will, with occasional handfuls of small, dry grain and barley and buckwheat baked with water in the oven, give the chickens all that is neces- ‘sary for building up the strong framework which is essential to a fine-developed bird. The use of bone dust must be omit- ted, and a constant supply of green food, together with mor- tar, oyster-shell, gravel and all manner of grit and dust should be insured. Pure water, never left to stagnate or freeze or to get hot in, the sun, and if possible, milk occa- sionally, will render the diet perfect. Chicks so kept, the quantity given being increased with their size and appetite, will be found at four months, or, at any rate, at five, to be fit for table without the unhealthy and unpleasant process of cramming. If destined for the show-pen, they will be ready to ‘‘go in’’ for the further care and preparation need- ed for exhibition. At this age cockerels must be divided from pullets, and the chicken period may be considered over. FOOD FOR ADVANTAGES OF DRY FOOD. HETHER chickens should be fed water and dry W grain or no water and sloppy food, until weaned, is a very far-reaching question. Personally we do not believe in sloppy food at all for chickens. Years ago cows were fed on sloppy food and mashes, but experience has taught us that dry bran and meal are more digestible and produce better results every way. The latter is the article of commerce now used more than the old pin- head oatmeal.. It is soft and the little chicks take it readily. This we feed dry, scattering it on the floor for the chicks to pick up. We took a tomato can and filled it about half full with fresh milk, to which its weight of boiling water had been added, and inverted this can ina tin saucer, just large enough for the chickens to readily reach the milk but not large enough to admit their feet getting in. This can was replenished in the afternoon. We have never seen chickens relish a dish as much as that dish of milk. This lot of chick- ens was fed on oats and milk until a week old, when a bread made of ground. oats, bran and Indian meal was fed to them.. A little cracked corn, and wheat was gradually given them, and when three weeks of age the latter was the staple food, but fresh water was substituted for the milk after that. We never saw or raised a healthier lot than the above, barring only one chicken. The above system enabled us to save time, as the dry food could be given, without danger of spoiling or becoming foul, once or. twice daily. Another lot of chickens were fed on cracked corn, rolled oats and cracked rice from the first. They had all the water they wanted to drink and did exceedingly well. The great danger of sloppy food, especially in warm weather, is its becoming sour and producing bowel trouble. This is strik- ingly so when bran and meal are fed, and we prefer to feed both dry and let the moisture come from the water. Water is indispensable, especially to brooder chicks. The latter kept in too warm a temperature are apt to drink too much. This was illustrated recently while on a visit to a friend. Our friend had 120 chickens in a brooder and complained that they would do nothing but drink, and did not eat as they should. Investigation showed that the chickens were confined in a dry, hot brooder. He placed « pan of water in the brooder, lowered the temperature somewhat and found that the chickens stopped the habit of drinking water almost entirely. This leads us to think that the advocates of ‘‘no water’’ base their experience on chickens raised under hens. If such chickens are fed moist food and great care taken to keep .the food clean and sweet, they can get along without CHICKENS a regular supply of water, but foraging in the damp grass certainly gives them a natural supply of moisture not always calculated upon. To watch chickens on a hot day and con- clude they need no water is a thing that few men will be- ‘lieve.. We have never seen any ill effects in chickens from: water if allowed full liberty, but in confinement, under vad sanitary conditions, water is more apt to satisfy the cravings of a feverish and unhealthy lot of chicks than good food will. We saw a very healthy lot of chickens recently that were fed cracked corn and whole wheat only from the start. They had an unlimited supply of water to drink and were allowed unlimited range. Taking time and labor and general results as a guide we can state that in our experience we prefer the dry grain and water method with free range as the safest and most profitable. COOKED MEAL FOR FOWLS. It is too much the practice to feed raw meat to poultry under the mistaken idea that as the worms and insects which they seize with such avidity are uncooked, so should be any meat given them by their owners. But the early. worm which biddy takes in her empty erop, soft, pulpy and crushed by the bill before it descends the gullet, is one thing, and the coarse, dry, stringy, fatless flesh thrown to them ‘‘in the rough’’ and the tough, is quite another, even if the carcass of horse or sheep so ke- stowed is not still more objectionable on account of disease. True, these nearly ‘‘dry bones’? may serve to while away ‘a weary.hour in the monotonous life of the poultry yard, and happily the fowls may labor under the impression that they are eating something. And so they may serve a certain purpose in the poultry world. But for real aid and comfort to the fowls save all your refuse meat, and buy in addition, ‘‘liver, lights and all,’’ as the old story runs, from the shambles, and boil all together for two hours or more. Then chop finely and mix with meal in the water in which they are boiled. This dry, rich mess, showing bits of meat, like raisins in plum pudding, will be a dish fit to set before any ‘‘queen of the (poultry) harem,’’ and she and her maids of bonor will pay you for it in more than words, as your egg basket, high with pearls, will show on many a_ succeed- ing day. COOKED FOOD. It is some trouble to prepare and cook the food for a lot of fowls, but it is amply repaid by their more rapid develop- ment, and the larger price they will bring when ready for sale. The assertion, that they will grow more rapidly on 112 cooked than on uncooked food has often been demonstrated as correct by actual experiment, and a proof of the fact is that those kept principally on food that is cooked grew away from those which are cared for equally well, except that their food was given them in a raw state. Market poultrymen, who raise chicks for the early market, give cooked food and find it to be nevessary to se- eure successful profits in the business; and if this is true, the thoroughbred poultry breeder will gain likewise in the greater size and rapid growth of his stock, and thus get them ready for early sales, early shows and better prepared to enter the winter months. The males can be disposed of easier, the pullets will begin laying earlier, and the business will prove more of a pleasure. Cooked feed should be sufficiently dry to enable the attendant to make it up into balls which will crack open when thrown out. A USE FOR WHEAT CHAFF, No better use can be made of wheat chaff than to use it as litter in the poultry houses, in which the hens can scratch and exercise. If a gill of millet seeds be scattered- in the chaff the hens will work and hunt for the small seeds industriously until every one is found, and as the seeds are so very, small, the hens will be more earnest and diligent, the seeds also being somewhat of a luxury. The chaff will also assist in keeping the floor dry, thus adding to the warmth and comfort of the poultry ‘House during periods of cold or damp weather. FEEDING WARM FOOD. ‘ The poultryman who furnishes the flock with warm water twice a day, hits the nail squarely, and in this con- nection we say give them a good meal of warm feed on cold mornings, whether they be fancy fowls or running about the farm house. It will pay in either case as well as any in- vestment you can make of your time. It may be made of almost any kind of ground grain or mixture of grains. We use a good deal of corn, ground cob and all together (quite fine). This gives them a roughness of feed they cannot well get in cold weather in the absence of grass and such fill- ing feed. : AMOUNT OF FOOD REQUIRED DAILY. In an experiment in England for the purpose of deter- mining the daily amount of food consumed by different breeds of fowls, the following was the result: Dorkings: i. cecnisae cane yeaa 6 ounces 391 grains GaMOS ore ces hee esos eee ee ts 4 ounces 275 grains Buff Cochins ..........6-:eee eee eee 17 ounces 296 grains Langshans .........e. eee eee eee 7 ounces 31 grains DOMIGMKE 244545 Gee eee. FES 4 ounces 326 grains Brown Leghorns ......... oes vices 4 ounces 398 grains ‘Hamburgs seteteeeeecneerrrereee £ ounces 120 grains Polish ....ccccceeee cuore eteees 4 ounces 28 grains Guinea fowls ..... seb aa farce pee 4 ounces 182 grains It will be seen that the Buff Cochins eat much more than any of the other breeds, and to show the increase of weight in proportion to food consumed it may be stated that each gained daily as follows for twenty days: Dorkings ........... 138 grains—laid 130 eggs per year Games ........---05 92 grains—laid 100 eggs per year Buff Cochins ....... 77 grains—laid 115 eggs per year Langshans .......+- 123 grains—laid 115 eggs per year Dominicks ......... 92 grains—laid 110 eggs per year Brown Leghorns ....107 grains—laid 190 eggs per year Hamburgs .......:. 92 grains—laid 239 eggs per year Polish ....5..+00005 46 grains—laid 98 eggs per year Guineas ....... «25. — grains—laid 75 eggs per year SUCCESS WITH POULTRY It will be noticed that the Hamburgs gave the largest number of eggs and the Brown Leghorns next, but’ the Dor- kings and Langshans made the largest daily’ gain in growth, while the Cochins, though consuming enormously of food, did not show its effect either in eggs or the first twenty days’ growth. Taking the three highest for weight at six months, the following was the result: Dorkings weighed 10 pounds, 1 ounce and 685 grains. Buff Cochins weighed 9 pounds, 1314 ounces. / Langshans weighed 10 pounds, 5 ounces and 437 grains. The greatest gain was made by the Langshans, but for the food allowed the Dorkings are entitled to the honor. We give the above as the result of experiments in England. In this country the conditions would be reversed perhaps. Hamburgs seldom lay as many as 239 eggs, but in England the climate seems best adapted to both Dorkings and Ham- burgs. In estimating the results, the kind of food should be considered, which was not given. We use corn ‘largely in this country, and hence experiments here would be con- ducted differently. Chicks when hatched usually weigh about one and one-half ounces, those from the large breeds having an advantage. We hope some of our readers will conduct similar experiments. ; HEATING POULTRY HOUSES. Unless the weather is extremely cold the poultry house will require no heat, It should, however, never be at a lower temperature than 40 degres above ZeTO,. and this can be secured by properly lining a poultry house so as to pre- vent the entrance of too much cold air. The windows will allow of the entrance and, absorption of a large amount of heat during the day, but at night the heat will be radiated away if the glass is not covered on the outside with a piece of batting or a shutter. But in regard to the best method of heating, we should suggest a stove with a sheet iron drum, a stove pipe being connected with the drum so as to con- duct the heat to the extreme end. Openings may be made in the stove pipe at proper distances, to serve on the prin- ciple of registers for egress of the hot air, in order to warm every portion of the house. We do not say that a stove so arranged will heat a large poultry-house, but it should in- erease the temperature sufficiently to prevent freezing of the combs and wattles. Too much heat should not be desired, as it will make the hens tender and more susceptible to colds and sudden changes. HENS IN WET WEATHER. The. damp, wet seasons are more injurious to the fowls than is the cold, dry weather of winter, “Dampness is the source of one-half the diseases. It is not so much the. amount of water they come in actual contact with, as toe constant humidity of the air and dampness of their sur- roundings. Damp weather means an accumulation of mud and filth in the yards and coops, which is always in a state of decomposition and a source of annoyance. To avoid this difficulty the coops should be cleaned daily and the floors sprinkled with fine, dry land plaster or dry earth. The yard should be drained, and every precaution used to turn the water away. In the case of chicks they quickly suceumb toe dampness. The moisture is constantly being evaporated, thus carrying off the animal heat. The same is true of adult fowls. They do not get wet as far as the water pass- ing through the feathers on their backs is concerned, but the under parts of their bodies have no protection against the water on the ground, which soaks in and chills them, the result being roup and other diseases which arise from colds. A few pinches of red.pepper in the food is excellent for them‘at such times. ARTIFICIAL INCUBATION General Remarks on'Incubators and Brooders~--Good Machines are Simple in Construction and Easy to Operate—The “Old Reliable” Briefly Described —Work Done with the Reliable, and Definite Information About How it was Done— The Reliable in Foreign Lands. ITH due deference to the necessary hen (necessary W as an egg laboratory) we are still forced to admit that she is not able to successfully compete with the modern incubator. In hatching eggs the shallow-pated and fretful hen is at a great disadvantage. It is her pea-sized brain against the brain of a man. It is her long list of bodily ills against insensible wood and metal, It is her patient (?) breast probed by ‘the feeders of a thousand lice, against a machine that has no fear of And so on through the list. such pests. Nor is'this all. Rollins, in his ancient history, telly of artificial incubation being resorted to ‘on the banks of the Nile by the Egyptians who built the ancient pyramids, in the shadow of which.Napoleon said to his soldiers: ‘‘From those pyramids forty centuries look down upon you.’’ We learn from recent reports, shown elsewhere in this book, made by the United States Consuls, that large ‘‘Ineubators’’ or ‘(Hatching Ovens’’, are now used by the Egyptians in hatching poultry. Theoretically, the modern incubator should easily dis- On the other han’ tnere may still exist drawbacks to the incubator, but we are fully convinced that there is no draw- back that cannot be overcome. The modern, : ineubator, when well made, is a complete success. improved The writer has taken an active interest in artificial incu- bation for twenty-eight years past. We have watched the development and tapid improvement of the incubator. We do not mean to say that twenty- eight years ago the incubator was a new thing. Not at all. ’Way back in 1845, on Broadway, New York, some ingenious Yankee was hatching out large numbers of chicks by artificial means and charging crowds of visitors 1214 cents per head to. step inside and gratify their curiosity. To convince them that it was not a fraud this New Englander would break open eggs and show the chick at different stages of development. tance the hen, and we freely maintain that a brooder that is built on correct principles and is properly handled, is as mueh an improvement over the hen as is the incubator.. Both are much surer than the hen. That is the main point, and it is true for many reasons. In a properly constructed ineu- bator the temperature is uniform throughout the egg cham- ber. It is very seldom, is it not, that your house lamp goes out? An incubator or brooder lamp should be every bit as trustworthy as your house lamp. The regulator is, or should be, a simple thing, A person is liable to be my:'"ted in 114 SUCCESS WITH POULTRY thinking about the means of regulating an incubator, but as a rule they are both simple and trustworthy. Not only that, but we know from experience that properly fertilized eggs will stand pretty rough treatment. We have only to consider the hen’s treatment of eggs to appreciate this. Time and again we have had hens stay off their nests until it seemed to us that the eggs could not possibly hatch. They would then go on with the job and at the appointed time walk demurely off, followed by from seven to a dozen happy chicks. A few words more about the brooder. We have seen chicks that were raised in a brooder in April and May walk right away from those cared for by a hen during the same months—chicks of-the same age and both lots free from lice. Every duck and chicken raised on our farm for several years has been raised in brooders, and out of many thou- sands we have not lost over four per cent from all causes, They grew rapidly and seemed to be entirely satisfied with their lot. Chicks raised by hens during the same period were fully one-fourth smaller and a larger percentage of those entrusted to hens were lost. We strongly advise the use of incubators and brooders. If you do not feel able to buy both this year, buy a brooder. It will pay you and please you. Another year you will want an incubator. Don’t buy a brooder simply because it is called a brooder.. Don’t do that. Study the matter over before you accept as pure gospel the magnified praise be- stowed on any article that is offered for sale. In these pages you will find a cut showing an up-to-date brooder with perfect ventilating and heating. system. It is costly, if not impracticable, to raise poultry on a large scale by the aid of hens alone. The good incubator makes this easily possible—not for the men who have failed at everything else they have tried in life—but for the men who succeed as a rule with what they undertake. A man can multiply incubators as long as ‘his pocketbook holds out. So he can hens,-but-he cannot make hens sit when they do not want to. All the king’s horses and all the king’s men can not do that with the ‘‘ornery’’ hen. THE BEST INCUBATORS MANUFACTURED. Among the best few incubators manufactured at the present time is the Old Reliable, the machine that has been used successfully for the poultry public for the last twenty- six years, and it has probably done more than any other machine to advance the methods used in artificial incuba- tion. Ideas that were not thought of before the advent of this machine on the market are now used by a number of other manufacturers, a large number of whom are parties who were at one time connected with the present manufac- turers of the Reliable. This machine has been simple in con- struction from the first, and every improvement that has been added to it since first patented and placed on the market, has been made with a view to simplify it both in operation and for practical use. We shall confine our remarks about incubators to the ‘Old Reliable,’’ as we hardly think that a better example could be furnished. Our purpose in introducing this incu- bator here is not to advertise it, but to discuss perfect and correct principles to be used in an incubator, how to guard against failure, and the case with which excellent results in artificial incubation can be obtained with a good in- cubator. The real secret of the wide-spread suecess of Reliable Incubators is the even ‘temperature imparted to all parts of the egg tray through the entire hatch, which is due to the elegant construction and arrangement of the heating ap- paratus, which is most amply complete. The nearer all possible variation in the temperature of the hatching cham- ber is overcome, the nearer it is to what is desired. Any sudden or extreme change is naturally injurious to the eggs and causes that great difficulty of chicks dying-in the shell more than any other feature in artificial incubation. Especially is this true during the first week of incubation, when the chick embryo is first taking shape. Another great essential to success with an incubator is to have the conditions in the hatching chamber uniform throughout. In too many machines that are made more to sell than to hatch, three or four thermometers placed at the same time in different parts of the hatching chamber will show a variation of from three to ten degrees. This condition of things is ruinous to good hatching. The regulating device furnished “with the Reliable Incubator is we believe, the most complete and trustworthy and sensitive in existence. It will do just what and all that is claimed for it. We herewith present an illustration of the sectional view of the machine, showing the regulator, just how it is connected, which, for simplicity certainly cannot be surpassed. That it will do the work, we do not believe we can give any better evidence than the fact that we use it on our machines. This sectional view also shows how the Standard Reliable Incubator is made, gives figures and information as to the entire construction upon which the Reliable Company holds eight distinct and separate patents. ~ Good value is put into all Reliable Incubators furnished, and for twenty-six years past they have proven them- selves a practical success in the hands of thousands of purchasers. The testimonials which appear in this book are only one of the many sources of the evidence of satis- faction that these machines are giving. HOT WATER AND HOT AIR INCUBATORS. The Reliable Incubator & Brooder Co., offers to the public this year, the best line of incubators and brooders ever offered to the trade. Their latest styles of incubators are made under their new patents, showing greater and more valuable improvements over the old style machines than ever before. They are making their incubators and brooders on scientific principles, combining every advantage in them that bring about the very best results. They have had over twenty-six years experience continually testing differ- ent ideas advanced regarding artificial incubation, and as a result, are in a position to know, from experience, how to hateh and raise the largest percentage of chicks, and what is necessary to constitute a strictly first class, good machine. They make several styles of incubators— First—The New Standard Reliable, both hot air and hot water, with and without brooder combined. Second—The Reliable Bantling Hot Air and Hot Water Ineubators, with and without brooder combined. Also several styles of brooders, viz—The Indoor Hot Air and Hot Water Style, the Outdoor Hot Air and Hot Water style, and the Double Sectional Loop Hot Water Pipe Brooder. They also manufacture and supply a Hot Water Heating System. This system you will find herewith fully illustrated and just as it can be furnished by them, and this system can be adapted to almost any size brooding house. The question is often asked, ‘‘What is the best, hot-air or hot-water machines?’’ Our answer is, one hatches just as good as the other, the only difference is, should you by neglect fail to fill your lamp or allow it to go out, the Reliable Hot Water machine will keep up the heat from 6 to 8 hours, on account of the large body of water sta- tioned. over the tops of the egg chamber and surrounded on SUCCESS WITH POULTRY 115 top and sides by heavy insulation, not allowing the water to cool off. This is not in the hot air' machines, We have no reason to speak a good word for one more than the other, for we make both kinds and know that one is just as good as the other. Naturally, those firms that only make one kind claim the kind they make is the best, which is natural for them to do. Not so with us, for we know from experience what both kinds will do, hence we are not partial and will tell the actual facts. General Construction of the Reliable Incubators THE CASE. The walls of these machines are double; the space be- tween them carefully insulated with the best of non-con- ductors of heat known. All lumber ‘used is thoroughly sea- soned. . The top above tank is heavily insulated with four thick- nesses of cotton, separated by as many sheets of non-con- dueting, heavy cardboard, also, an extra layer of cardboard above and below. : The Standard Reliable Incubator has two separate doors, which are made extra thick, standard, instead of depending on the cheap articles used by some makers, because they can be bought for about one- third the price of a good thermometer. THE RELIABLE REGULATOR. Next to supplying the proper amount of heat to the hatch- ing chamber, in importance is the regulation and evenness of this heat as it comes in contact with the eggs, thus necessitating a regulator that is extremely sensitive to the slightest change of temperature. with extra heavy glass. This arrangement per- mits an easy observation of_.all parts of the - egg chamber at all times, without opening the dor of the machine.. These doors close against a jamb, positively causing them to seal themselves, thus overeom- ing any chance of cold air entering the machine from this source. The legs, as will be noticed by the illustration, are neatly turned, and arranged to extend with a shoulder under- neath the corners of the machine, where they are secure@ with screws, giving to the whole machine the rigidity of a solid piece. Upon the compactness of the egg case depends almost altogether the ease with which the heat is kept regular, and upon an even temperature the results of the machine depend more than anything else, and it is the first great absolute necessity in natural and artificial incubators. A DOUBLE HEATING SYSTEM. A unique feature of the Reliable is its double heating system—a feature possessed by no other incubator, and one which gives a decided advantage in economy of operation. In the hot water machines there are two tanks, a hot air tank above the hot water tank. This tank, in addition to heating the fresh air supply, before conducting it into the egg chamber, also radiates heat from its own surface, in sufficient quantity that, if necessary, the heat from the hot water tank could be cut off entirely and the hot air tank would maintain the temperature at the proper degree. This heat from the hot air tank is saved, whereas it goes to waste in other makes of incubators. ; We have, therefore, a double system of heating, combin- ing all the advantages of the hot air and hot water systems, overcoming all of the disadvantages of either. Practically the same system is embodied in our hot air machines, there being two tanks, (both hot air,) one closed and running entirely through the incubator; the other open at the inner end, supplying fresh air and at the same time radiating the heat. In all other makes of incuabtors the supplementary heat is lost, necessitating the use of an extra amount of fuel. SAFETY FEATURES. The lamps, burners and chimneys are all metal and are so constructed as to be perfectly safe. There is no breakage to cause frequent expense and delay, with the thermometer (for it is the only guide you have regarding ‘the heat,) it cannot be too accurate, and insist upon every incubator ther- mometer being high grade and tested by the United States This is just what is found in all Reliable machines. Our patent Reliable regulator will be found free from all these defects. It consists of an expansion plate, cor- rugated to overcome any chance of the metal stretching; this expansion plate is filled with a finid that boils and forms a steam at a temperature just lower than 103, and is tested by hydraulic pressure at a temperature of 150 de- grees and then hermetically sealed, thus positively insuring results desired without any chance of injuring any of its parts, and thus making tt practically everlasting. As this steam forms, it expands the plate slightly, which, through the arrangement.of the compound levers, raises the valve over the heater perceptibly, allowing the heat to pass direct- ly out of the heater and cutting it off from the machine and egg chamber, This immediately causes the temperature to commence lowering-until the proper temperature is reached, when the valve will have resumed the same identical posi- tion as it first occupied, and it will be found at no time has there been a variation of one degree from the desired point. No other regulator known will do this, although all manu- facturers make the strongest kind of claims that they fail almost entirely to substantiate. Our regulator costs us con- ~ siderable more than any other used for similar purposes costs; it is worth it many times over to the operator and consequently to us. So accurate is the regulator on these Reliable machines that no lot of eggs even entrusted to their care have been spoiled on account of overheating. OUR REGULATOR ON OTHER MAKES OF MACHINES. Supplied for $3.00. Without any intention of criticizing our competitors, we wish to say that our regulator is arranged so any one can understand it, easily adjust it, and operate it without diffieul- ty. Possibly the greatest trouble with some of the regulators used is their complicated mechanism. All that is necessary to adjust ours is the simple turning back or forth of the thumb-screw. During the past season we have put over 500 of these regulators on other machines, and will furnish them. to any one, with full instructions for attaching, for $3.00. When ordering, send rough sketch of machine, showing end at which heater is located. 116 SUCCESS WITH POULTRY THE EGG TRAY. The trays are made of eniigig seasoned’ material and are strengthened with cross bars. The bottoms of trays are covered. with extra heavy gauze, producing an article that is durable and easily handled. We furnish with each Standard Incubator a Patent Turning Tray, which is a time-saving device. THE NURSERY. As the chicks soon get on their feet when hatched, it becomes necessary to provide a means to remove them from the extreme heat of the upper egg chamber, and to get them out of the way of the hatehing chicks. A nursery, which is located under the tray, fills the requirements exactly. The chicks that are hatched work their way to the front of the machine, where there is sufficient space to permit the chicks to get into nursery below, thus overcoming any occasion for opening the door of the machine. THE FINISH. The material, as heretofore stated, used in the con- struction of our machine is as ary as it can be secured, consequently would readily absorb moisture, which would soon cause the wood to crack and warp were it not for the thorough finish. The inner and outer cases are given several coats of the best wood filler and varnish. “Both cases are thoroughly primed with filler and given, ‘time to dry. Then, they are given two additional coats of the best varnish, the first being allowed to dry thoroughly and harden before the second is applied. Also, it is perfect- ly dried before the machine is prepared for crating. THE HEATING APPARATUS. Heater of the Hot Water Reliable Incubator. po 137 Read the following numbers and de- seriptions in regard to the workings of our heater: No. 1. Heat receiver. No. 2. Part of heat receiver lying just beneath the machine. No. 3. Collar which fits on top of ineubator, through which heater passes. No. 4. Opening at the top of heat receiver, where regulator damper works on and off. ’ No. 5. Extension from the heat receiver, which pass- -es underneath egg chamber, furnishing fresh, warm air. No. 6. Collar underneath the machine, holding heat receiver in place. No. 7. Metal hangers which hold lamp in place. No. 8. Burner. No. 9. Metal lamp. No. 10. Metal chimney. No. 11. Filling tube on outside of incubator, where copper tank is filled. No. 12. Outlet pipe. No. 13. Faucet to draw off the water from the copper tank. No. 14. Copper tank. No. 15. Double heating system, which also furnishes fresh, warm air to egg chamber. Heater of the Hot Air 400-Egg Size Reliable Incubator. Ce Se Read the following numbers and de- scriptions in regard to the workings of our heater: No. 1. Outlets where heat direct from lamp passes out of machine. No. 2. Outside of our double heater. No, 3. Collar passing around the top of heater outside of incubator, fitting on top of machine. No. 4, Opening on the outside of heater, where damper works on and off in regulating heat. No. 5. Opening from the outer chamber of heater pass- ing through, supplying warm air underneath egg tray. No, 6. Collar on the bottom of incubator around heater. No. 7 Lamp chimney, fitting on the inside of heater and on lamp burner. No. 8. Hangers which are attached to lamp and which should be attached to the machine, holding lamp in position. No. 9. Burner and wick. No. 10. Metal chimney. No. 11. Opening where warm or fresh air passing out of our double heating system, and furnishing. fresh, warm air to the egg chamber. ns No. 12. Collar on the inside of Heating ¢hamber which holds the heater in position at heater end. No. 13. Two outside Pipes which carry heat direct, from lamp. No. 14. Center heater which carries the heat direct from lamp, emptying into pipe No, 13. ‘ No. 15. Heater underneath the top of machine. CUTAWAY OF STANDARD INCUBATOR SHOWING IN: TERIOR PARTS AND FIXTURES. The following numbers give. description of different parts and fixtures: No. 1. Top boards on incubator. No. 2. Packing in the upper part of the incubator. No. 3. The balance bar of regulator. . 4, Expansion plate where small pin No. 6 rests in. No. 5. Double heater carrying fresh, warm air into incubator. No. 6. Regulator pin. No: 7. Hot air pipe, carrying fresh, warm air in un- derneath egg chamber. No. 8. Warm air space between double walls at lamp end of incubator. No. 9. Cutaway of end, showing where warm air, com- ing through pipe 7, empties out under egg chamber. There is another opening the same distance on the other side of heater used for the same purpose. No. 10. Bottom boards on ineubator. No. 11. Outer chamber of heat receiver, which warms the air that passes in 5 and 7. No. 12. Cutaway in bottom of incubator, showing venti- lators bringing cool air from the outside, bringing it un- derneath the egg tray where the warm air from 7 passes ‘through 9, which, coming in contact with this cool air, rari- fies this air and causes it to sweat, which applies moisture - automatically to the eggs. No, 18, Metal hangers on lamp. SUCCESS WITH POULTRY No. 14. Egg tray. No. 15. Thermometer. No. 16. Metal lamp chimney. No. 17. Burner and wick. No. 18. Metal lamp bowl. No. 19. Outlet pipe. No. 20. Metal egg tester. No. 21. Funnel for filling hot water incubators. No. 22. Two knobs, one for door 28, and the other for door 29. No. 23. Pipe attached to heat receiver where the heat passes direct into it from lamp, passing through, carrying away the fumes from the lamp, emptying them out at the far end of the machine. No. 24. Screws for fastening on legs and knobs on in- cubators. No. 25. Thermometer box, which, when packed ready for shipping, is placed in Egg Tester 20. No. 26. Box where fixtures are packed. No. 27. Directions No. 28. Inside glass door. No. 29. Outside glass door. Cut of packing, as shown in the top of Nc, 30 naa | ree Be ie he or turning devices which belong to tray 14. No. 31. Knife edge bracket where, balance bar No. 3 rests upon. . No. 32. Removable nursery tray underneath egg cham- ber, covered on the lower side with flannel and on the out-. side with burlap, leaving an inch air space between the two, where the air after passing in through 7 and 9, also 12, must pass through the space between them before it enters the egg chamber original. No. 83. Screen wire in bottom of tray. MOISTURE AND VENTILATION. Next in. importance to the proper heating of the egg ehamber and the proper regulation of this heat, comes the question of moisture and ventilation. Indeed, we must say 117 that they are of first importance, for more hatches are ruined by ill-ventilated incubators than from any other cause. The questions of mois- ture and ventilation are so intimately connect- ed, that they are prac- tically one, and by suc- cessfully solving one in the Reliable, we have solved both. : An examination of the sectional view on page 13 will show the ample provisions we have made for a rapid cireu- lation of pure, fresh air throughout the egg chamber.. The cold air is taken into the incu- bator at L, where it comes into contact with the heat flue M, and is thoroughly heated before entering the chamber. At different points about the egg chamber, vents are provided, through which the air escapes. This ventilation is neces- sary, because of the constant discharge of carbonic acid gases given off by the egg in the process of incubation. This obnoxious, poisonous gas must be removed and replaced by fresh, pure air, with its life-giving oxygen, or the chick is poisoned and suffocated in the shell. To a failure to provide for this extremely necessary circulation of pure air may be attributed the failure of so many of the poorly constructed machines now offered the publie. - The Reliable has accomplished perfect ventilation by providing for a constant, circulation of air through the ma- chine (all heated to the proper temperature before entering the egg chamber); and to the rapidity of the movement of this air is due largely the success of the hatch, and almost entirely the drying process of the moisture in the egg. By the aid of the most powerful, sensitive and accurate of in- struments, and with the assistance of the most expert author- ities in the world, we have found just what is required and just how to secure that requirement positively, -practically and simply. So perfectly is all this provided for, that no artificial moisture is required, and the machine will take care of itself in this regard, as'the moisture is provided in the Reliable in exactly the same manner as it is provided by the hen. The cold air, coming into contact with the heated body, gives off sufficient moisture for almost every hatch. Consequently, you do not require moisture pans with the Reliable. Our moisture is thus supplied. The cold air passes in at N, up around the inner heater M, and is heated. It, then, passes through the tubing marked ‘‘Fresh Hot Air Supply,’’ and is emptied out in and above the hot water tank in the hot water machine, and above the hot air tank in the hot air machine. Then, it must pass down, over on each side of this tank, and pass through D, which is the hanging or perforated wall. The cold air passes up through JJ, then passes through the double perforated, removable bottom; the warm air from the top and the cold air, coming in contact with each other, causes a sweat, and rarifies the air. The moisture from this 118 SUCCESS WITH POULTRY rarified air naturally settles upoy’ the eggs, which forms a moisture without any artificial moisture whatever. The old hen does not ask for a pan of water, neither do cur machines. Some machines have been operated with mois- ture pans successfully, but they are exceptional cases, and not likely*to happen again, for even the manufacturer using them is not able to tell you just how they should be used. _——. —~___- RELIABLE INCUBATOR AND BROODER COMBINED. These are, of course, not adapted to operation in a cellar or a sunless room—for that matter such a place is not fit to raise chicks, either with a hen or in a brooder, and if an incubator is to be operated in the cellar or a room where - I rp where is not plenty of light, TI then the plain machine, with- ; out top brooder, should be used; but if the room in which the incubator is to be run is well Jighted, like a south, southeast or southwest. room in a dwelling, or a good poultry house, or stable, then the combined machine is prac- tical and economical. With this machine there is unques- tionably a great saving of time, labor and expense in op- erating. The incuabtor and the chick can be attended to at the same time, and one lamp operates both machines. An essential point in poul- try raising, especially. early in the season, is to get the young birds well started on the toad to health at the time they leave the shell. With out nursery attached to the hatcher the little chicks, during the most delicate and tender period of their lives, are nicely sheltered and made comfortable. By an improved arrange- ment our combined Incubators and Brooders utilize practical- ly all of the heat that is generated by the lamp, wasting none. Heat is supplied to this top brooder directly from the lamp, not from egg chamber. In this combined machine we have simply built a brooder on top of a plain styie machine, and by placing a large tube over the escape vent, which tube connects at its upper end with a tank, we have provided a reservoir to receive and hold, for the purpose of warming tbe brooder, every bit of heat that is thrown off by the regu- lator after the temperature inside the egg chamber has reach- ed 103 degrees. IT IS SIMPLE, PRACTICAL AND ECO- NOMICAL. The heat thus furnished is top heat. The regu- lator bar is inclosed with metal, so the chicks in the brooder cannot interfere with or displace it, and the tubing is so arranged that neither fumes from the lamp nor gases from the hatching chamber can find their way into the brooder. A vent is located in the top of the brooder tank so as to create sufficient draft to cause the heat to pass-up into this reservoir. RELIABLE OUTDOOR BROODERS. Hot Air and Hot Water. (See Illustration.) We claim that our Reliable Hot-Water and Hot-Air Out- door Broders combine more good points than any other make of outdoor brooders.thus far invented, and we leave the decis- - ion to the reader’s unbiased.judgment. A practical and dura- ble outdoor brooder has long been needed, and several at- tempts to produce one had resulted in failure, until we intro- duced this style of brooder, which proved a success from the first. We manufacture these brooders in four sizes, a 50- chick, a 100-chick, a 200-chick and a 300-chick size. They are manufactured in two styles, one being heated by hot water, the other by hot air, A brief description of these brooders will suffice, we think to recommend them to the judgment of experienced poultrymen. These brooders should be located in the inside of a building or under a tree, or in an orchard or grove. They have been in use for several years and have proved highly satisfactory. The Reliable Outdoor Brooders are warmed by top heat exclusively. In the hot water style a copper boiler is lo- Bee 100, 200 AND 300 CHICK SIZE cated near the top of the brooder in the rear end, leaving about four inches of space between the top of the brooder and the top of the copper tank. The heat from the lamp passes through the body of water and heats the water ‘to the desired degree. The heat that escapés from the copper tub- ing, after passing through the tank of water, empties out into the compartment where the lamp is located and is util- ized by passing out through a tubing that is located above the copper tank and is connected with the lamp compartment, and allows no fumes from the lamp to enter the brooding’ chamber. It is arranged in such a way that all fumes from the lamp are discharged outside’the brooder. SUCCESS WITH POULTRY 119 oon oe ‘Cutaway of Outdoor Brooder, Showing Interior Parts and Fixtures. No. 1. Two metal covered doors opening and closing on top of brooder. ‘ “No. 2. Door closing up lamp compartment. No. 3. Shield over ventilators in lamp department. No. 4. Ventilators on brooder with slides attached op- ening and closing at will. : No. 5. Window in door or lamp department so the blaze of the lamp can be seen without opening door. No. 6. Ventilators in door of lamp department. No. 7. Where heat passes direct from lamp and heat receiver in pipe and through pipe 18. sy No. 8. Where heat passes through the outer pipe into opening 17. No. 9. Metal chimney. No. 10. Burner and wick. No. 11. Metal hangers to lamp. No. 12. Metal lamp bowl. No.13. Three ventilators underneath floor of brooder. There are three ventilators at the opposite corner on the other side so as to give a circulation of air underneath floor of brooder so the ‘floor will be =~ kept dry at all times. These ventilators are covered with. wire cloth: so as to be rat-proof. No, 14. Door for chickens | to pass in and out. : No. 15. Glass door at end jax, of brooder, to be closed or op- Ree ened at will. ’ No. 16. Screening over op- ening, so when door 15 is open- ed, chickens cannot pass out, nor any varmints cannot enter. No. 17. Opening where heat and fresh air passes out of pipe. No. 18. Pipe where heat direct from lamp passes through. : No. 19. Curtain around inner hover. No. 20. Packing above the heater. No. 21. Metal casing around lamp department, so no air from that department can enter into the brooder; also, a positive fire protection. ww BK a pS » =a } Th a No. 22. Glass in each side of brooder. No. 23. Thermometer. No. 24. Metal center top of brooder. No. 25. Hooks ‘which fasten each top metal door down to side of brooder. No. 26. Runway, where chickens pass out of door 14. No, 27. Frame to hold heating’ aparatus and cur- tain in position. No. 28. Outlet pipe, where heat, after passing through brooder, empties into metal lamp chamber. No. 29. Floor of brooder. No. 30. Cutaway, showing space underneath floor of brooder. ' 6 SP No. 31. Outside of brooder. No. 32. Thermometer holder. No. 33. Funnel for filling hot water brooders. No. 34. Book of directions. No. 35. Hover for chickens. No. 36. Space outside of hover, where chickens are to be fed and exercised. No. 37. Block which you will find marked ‘‘Take Off.’’ This block is placed thereon, as fixtures are packed in the lamp chamber when shipping. This block must be taken off so as to allow sufficient fresh air to pass in the lamp cham- ber. You will find one of these blocks on each side of the lamp chamber. RAT PROOF YARD FOR OUTDOOR BROODEBRS. This reproduction shows the intersection of the Reliable Out Door Brooder with rat-proof yards attached. This brooder has a double heating system’and is by far the eas- iest operated and with less trouble than any other brooder made. It is a positively safe and secure brooder. The chicks cannot crowd, and are always comfortable and healthy. It is well ventilated and cannot be overheated. On another page is a reproduction of this brooder as in operation. The tat-proof yard, as here attached, is one of the most secure and will positively not allow rats, minks, crows or any kind of vermin to get at the chickens, They are built and shipped in knock-down and can be hooked together securely. They are made without bottoms, so they can be moved from one plot of grass to another. When these yards are used you know your chickens are safe. They are made and sold separate from 120 SUCCESS WITH POULTRY the brooders. are without the rat-proof yards. . sizes. The price of our out-door brooders as quoted They are made in four RELIABLE INDOOR BROODERS. A brooder to be properly constructed must furnish top- heat and be so arranged that he chicks can, of their own accord, go to the heat or come away from it, just when they please. Here is to be found one of the main secrets of suc- cess in brooding chicks without the use of hens. This com- pany, would, if it wished to, manufact- ure and sell a bottom-heat brooder. We did so for many years, or until we learned better. They can be made much cheaper, but we want our patrons to succeed, not fail. By all means, then, stear clear of all bottom heat brooders, and do not under any consid- eration consent to use-a brooder which does not permit the chicks to go at will, both to the heat and away from it. The longer time, or the more time (on account of severe weather) the chicks have to‘spend inside the brood- ers, the more important these matters become. Bear in mind, that it is as in- jurious to chicks to overheat them as it is to allow them to chill. The accompanying illustrations, reproduced from a pho- tograph, give a good idea of what the Improved Reliable Indoor Brooders are like. The hot-water and hot-air brooders are exactly the same, except that the former is heated by means of water in.a copper tank (same quality of copper as is used in the hot-water incubators), while the latter is heated in the same w4y as the hot-air incubators. Both the hot-water tank and the hot-air reservoir are located in the top of the rear half of the brooders, leaving a space of six inches in the clear underneath them. In front of the tank and extending to the floor of the brooder is a curtain of heavy woolen cloth. This curtain partitions the brooder into two equal parts, and, by retaining the larger amount of heat coming from the tank or reservoir in the rear apartment, furnishes two different temperatures for the ehicks, one of which is fifteen degrees warmer than the other. The chicks (which are their own best thermometer) can go into either apartment as they please. If they feel at all chilly, they will go behind the curtain; if they should become too warm there, they will come out into the cooler apartment. Whenever the surrounding temperature will per- | mit, they should be allowed to run out of the brooder into exercising yards. If they get a little chilly they will run back into the brooder as readily as they do under a hen. Unlike the notional old hen, the brooder is at all times ready to hover any or all of the chicks. With the hen a large per cent of the early hatched chicks die, be¢ause she will not hover them when they need. warmth. This fact alone rend- ers it impracticable to raise early chickens with profit by the hen method. 400-CHICK RELIABLE INDOOR BROODER . RELIABLE SECTIONAL DOUBLE-LOOP HOT-WATER BROODERS. Herewith are shown our latest improved sectional brood- crs, which we make in lengths as follows: 3 feet, 6 feet, 9 feet, 12 feet, 15 feet and 18 feet. These double-loop hot- water brooders are made with pipes extending only one way from heater, unless they are over 12 feet long, when we ex- tend the pipes both ways from heater; so in the 18-foot brooder the farthest place from the source of heat is only nine feet, and so arranged that where the brooder extends both ways from the heater, the heat can be shut off from one end of brooder, when not in use, if so desired, thus saving oil. This double-loop hot-water brooder is meant for use in the sunny corner of a room, poultry house, barn, or in a small-sized brooder house. On page 47 is shown a style of house in which four or more of these brooders can be used to excellent advantage, the house being de- signed to secure direct sunlight in the pens on both sides of the central aisle. If one row of pens is desired instead of two, then a house with a simple shed roof is sufficient, with the windows (16x24 in- ches) placed under the euves, These sectional brooders are the most economical trooding device on the market. The heating system is perfect. In the interior view of the house shown the wire partitions to the pens or runs are omitted, so that a better view can be obtained: The rear ends of these partitions should rest on top of the brooder, / just far enough back of the hinges to allow the doors to the hover (one of which is shown partly rais- ed) to be opened from the aisle, in order that the at- tendant can clean out under the hovers each day or every other day without having to enter each pen. The pens can be entered from the central aisle through doors placed in the end partitions. Before the chicks are placed in these brooders, put from four to six inches of dry sand on the floor of the runs, ex- tending it in under the brooder (it has no bottom,) thus bringing the tiny chicks up four to six inches nearer the warm pipes than they would be if they stood on the floor of the house. A dirt floor is all that is needed for such a house, but it must be dry. , SUCCESS WITH POULTRY 121 Two metal bowl lamps are furnished with each com- plete brooder; the water boiler and reservoir above: them are made of_cold rolled copper; the pipes are regular steam- fitters’ piping, and the lumber is extra select. In these brooders, the same as in our unequaled outdor brooders, a space is left between the back and the rear curtain, so that if the chicks go to crowding they will crowd each other out into a cooler air at one place, only to ereep back in under the warm hover at another place. We consider these sectional brooders a great boon to all persons using incubators and desiring to rear early chicks safely with the minimum of trouble and expense. RELIABLE BANTLING INCUBATORS. Hot Air and Hot Water. Jn order to meet the demand for an incubator which can be sold at a lower price than we are compelled to put upon our high-grade Standard Reliable Incubators, we put upon the market several years ago our line of Reliable Bantlings, and have been more than pleased and gratified by the success they have attained. We give them tne same care in manufacture. that is given our higher priced machines, and offer them to the public on the same broad guarantee given all our machines, warranting. them to be superior to any other low-priced in- cubator made. They are hatching more fertile eggs and giving better satisfaction than any similar article in use today, and when it comes to the old hen, they have Biddy ‘‘beat to death.’? We have had reports of some phenom- enal hatches in the Bantling, and we can send them to you with full assurance that they will give you satisfactory re- sults, if placed in a room where there is no great change in the temperature, as they are single wall machines. CONSTRUCTION. The machines are made of high-grade, thoroughly sea- soned lumber, which does not absorb moisture. They have double top and double bottom, both well in- sulated. The ends and back are made of one solid piece carefully rabbeted and cross-nailed at the corners. The legs are turned and carefully and substantially secured to the machine. The ‘door has double glass front, is strongly construc- ‘ped with wood frame, and closes against a rabbet - or door-jamb, which is padded with felt. This positively seals itself when closed, excluding any possibility of air getting into the egg chamber in this way, which prevents a lower temperature in front part of it, making all parts of the machine heat equally. : TANKS AND MODES OF HEATING. The tanks and mode of heating, ventilating and regulat- ing are the same in the Bantling Hot Air and Hot Water Incubators as used in the Standard. Nothing but the very. best cold rolled copper is used in all hot water tanks. All tanks are positively tested, which insures no leakage. The ‘same double heating system is used in all Bantlings, same as used in Standard. : : TRAYS. These are made of thé very best and most durable ma- terial. The eggs are turned by hand, for there is nothing that is better or more positive than turning eggs by hand; although tuis takes a little longer, it is more satisfactory. The nursery is arranged under the trays, as you will note by reference to the illustration. Its object is to provide a place for the chicks to rest and move.about in while the hatch is- being completed, which also keeps them off the eggs. / The’ regulator and thermometer are the same articles we furnish with the high-grade machines. - LAMPS. The lamps consist of burner, lamp, fount, wick and chimney. It is an all-metal safety lamp of the same prin- ciple as that used on our high-grade machines. The workmanship and finish throughout are up to the’ standard of our other machines. RELIABLE BANTLING INCUBATOR AND BROODER COMBINED. All combined brooders are made on the same principle, except the combined Bantling has only one yard. IMPROVED HOT-WATER APPARATUS. For Heating Brooder Houses. Guaranteed Perfectly Safe. We furnish these heaters (the stove part) either with or without piping. We quote prices here for heaters alone, or with piping, supply tanks, automatic regulator, cocks and 122 SUCCESS WITH POULTRY everything complete. This apparatus is put together in our shop before shipment, and the different sections are marked in accordance with a diagram, with instructions for erect- ing, which we furnish the purchaser, thereby enabling him Heater showing pipes run- ning one way, with regulator in position, to set it up correctiy and thus avoid the expense of a special mechanie for that work. We will specially prepare this heating apparatus for any size house desired. For prices | of other lengths than here quoted, write us. We positively guarantee that these heaters will heat the brooder houses for which they are designed in the coldest weather. In houses 40 feet or smaller we run pipes only one way from heater, but in houses 50 feet and longer we run pipes both ways, unless ordered different, thus bringing farthest end of piping much nearer to the source of heat, as shown in drawing; and the system is so arranged that if only one end of the brooder is needed the heat can be shut off from the end not in use without interfering with the working of the end in use, thus saving one-half the fuel. THE RELIABLE STOCK FOOD COOKER AND WATER HEATER COMBINED. Cooked Food, A large majority of the successful stock-raisers of the country need not be told of the advantage of cooking all stock food, for food cook- ers are fixtures on their farms, and they would not 20 without them. It is just the thing for the mar- ket poultryman who raises chickens for early market to cook their food. It: is: necessary to obtain the best results. Breeders of thoroughbred poultry who raise several hundred head each season, and who carry severals pens of breeders through the year will like- = wise find it to their ad- “vantage: They will obtain quick growth and greater size in their stock, and be enabled to get them ready for earlier sales or for exhibition at the early shows, and the stock itself will be more productive. The males can be disposed of earlier and the pullets will begin to lay earlier. All cooked food should be fed sufficiently dry so that it will crumble. This can be insured by mixing it with bran or with the Reliable Food described elsewhere in these pages. Largest Thoroughbred Poultry Farm in the World One Hundred and Thirty-five Pens of Standard-bred Poultry—Over $8,000 in Buildings—A Farm Where You May Obtain Show Birds or Breeders. HE Reliable Incubator and Brooder Company now | owns and controls about 7,400 thoroughbred fowls. On their large farm, located on the boulevard, in the beautiful suburbs of Quincy, there are to be seen no less than 135 pens of high-grade thoroughbred poultry, mated for breeding. Heretofore this company had 110 pens, but could not near supply the demand, and hence recently they have again enlarged their poultry plant, increasing the outlay in buildings ‘to upwards of $8,000. Included in the above is a new brooding house and two-story packing. and shipping house, 120x20 feet in dimensions, this brooding house having a capacity of 3,000 chicks. See the illustra- tions of farm and buildings, reproduced from photographs. They are breeders of fancy poultry in the right sense of the words. They are not amateurs. They have con- ducted the breeding of fine poultry for over twenty years and have spared neither time nor money to perfect their birds and bring them to as near standard requirements as possible. Every fowl in their yards is bred on practical and scientific principles, and they are pleased to state that this part of their business has proved pleasant and renum- erative; in fact, out of this industry was developed their extensive incubator establishment. They have exhibited their stock at Chicago, Peoria, Jacksonville, Bloomington, Springfield, Danville, Quincy, and other leading poultry ex- hibitions, and the high honors which have been awarded them is evidence of the high standard of their stock. The Reliable Incubator and Brooder Company is the only ineu- bator firm in this western territory conducting its own poultry farm on a large and perfected scale. In the foregoing pages will be found life-like illustra- tions of the diffirent varieties they breed, with descriptions of same, They are the most valuable and, therefore, the most popular of all varieties. By breeding in large num- bers, aided by a complete system and a strictly modern plant, they are able to not only produce ‘‘as good as the best,’’ but to sell choice stock and eggs at unusually low prices, quality considered. Under no cireumstances will they send out disqualified or worthless stock, nor eggs from inferior stock. This they positively guarantee. The list of average prices quoted in their catalogue is for guaranteed, pure-bred stock, bred to the requirements of the American Standard of Perfection—in other words, these prices are for good, strong, vigorous, highly produc- tive THOROUGHBRED breeding stock, stock that will reproduce itself, true to shape, feather and prolific. Where fowls are wanted for eggs or meat, to breed for pleasure, or profit, or both, they can do as well or better by you than any firm or individual, with whom you may correspond. SUCCESS WITH POULTRY 123 Let them know what you want, and they will be pleased to advise or to serve you‘in any way. This farm has been visited by some of the best known and most capable poultry judges in the world, and is used as a school of instruction and learning by teachers in Numerous agricultural colleges and experiment’ stations and farmers’ institutes. To give you a slight idea of its great size and thoroughness, we republish some of the let- ters that have been received regarding it and wish to add that never have any of the numerous poultrymen who have visited this plant been able to say they had anything to equal it or knew of as large and complete a plant any- where in the country. HIGHLST ENDORSEMENT FROM JUDGE AND BREEDER. Carthage, Mo., May 15. In November I first visited the Reliable Poultry Farm at Quincy, Ill., under contract with the Reliable Incubator and Brooder Co., to score 1,000 birds for them. I set out for Quiney with my .mind fixed on those words: ‘‘Large quantity, poor quality.’’? A short drive brought us to the Reliable Poultry Farm, nestled among fruit and flowers. A warm welcome awaited me, and during a three-days’ stay I was royally entertained. I found a grandly arranged- poultry farm, fine, substantial and. well-painted buildings for the accommodation of the fowls . by the thousand. It was not long before I had to rid my mind of many ideas formed in reference to large poultry plants, for pen after pen of ideal fowls fell to my view, grand elegant birds, able to stand up in any company and be a credit to their owners and to themselves. I went to work, and 760 birds were scored ere time was called, and I had to set sail for an engagement to judge the Albion show. The work was not completed and many worthy birds were left unscored. As our name went te score card after score card, with scores of 93 to 96, we said: ‘‘We find but few specialists with fowls as fine as these.’? ” I found very few specimens with scores below 90 points, gnd I found men capable of consigning all unworthy specimens promptly to the market house, close cullers and firm believers in giving every customer 100 cents worth of value for every dollar entrusted to their care. ; Es MR. O0..A. EMRY I paid a hasty visit to the Reliable Incubator factory and was shown over the large building by the genial presi- dent, Mr. J. W. Myers. I was truly surprised. The four- story building was thronged with busy workmen, and in- cubators and brooders in every stage of construction were examined by me. Every detail of the work was of the best, and, best of all, the employes are paid by the day to do good, honest work and build a substantial, honest machine. It is my firm belief that the Reliable Incubator and Brooder Co. fully deserve the large trade bestowed upon them. I have heard many good reports from breeders who use the Reliable incubator, and the fact that I am using one myself, that I bought and paid for, is conclusive proof of what I think of them as practical and successful hatchers. The Reliable people are devoted to their work and are ever striving for improvement in every way. They deserve great success and are achieving it. Fraternally, Cc, A. EMRY. TRAVELED OVER 1,000 MILES TO SEE. , West Salem, Wis. Reliable Incubator and Brooder Co. After traveling over 1,000 miles, round trip, solely to see your factory and farms, I have reached home safely, and look back with great pleasure upon the courtesies you extended. Your poultry houses and methods, on the ‘‘Re- liable’? poultry farm visited by me, are certainly worthy of study by those desiring the com- ‘4\ fort, the convenience and the clean- 4/ liness for their fowls. The remarka- ble healthiness of the stock espec- jally appealed to my practical na- ture, and their tameness bespoke care-takers who love the fowls not for money alone. If any distinction | can be made among about 7,000 fowls with very few culls, your % Light Brahmas, White Plymouth Rocks and Pekin ducks remain in my memory as exceptionally fine. 4 q i Al | { {| ‘| MRS. IDA E. TILSON The heavy amount of mail I saw you receive and attend to, at your factory, and the large, busy force of clerks, showed that my wishes for your prosperity’ are met by facts. I saw and learned enough amply to pay me for my trip and give me great confidence in your methods, plans and promises. — Also was pleased with your progressive spirit that will certainly keep you in the forefront of manufacturers and breeders. Sincerely yours, IDA E TILLSON. Instructor of Poulttry, Minnesota State Farmers’ Institute. WHAT JUDGE THEO. HEWES SAW. Quiney, Ill. Reliable Incubator and Brooder Co. I have just completed a tour of the Reliable Poultry Farm, have looked over the stock and houses, and have no hesitancy in pronouncing them first-class. The quality of the stock is fully equal to that of our specialty breeders in Light Brahmas, Barred Plymouth Rocks and White and Brown mauaces while the Silver Wyandottes, Partridge = Cochins and Pekin ducks are above the average. The Silver Wyandottes are especially fine—in fact, taken j as a whole, I doubt if there are any of our specialty breeders who can show as good an average lot of birds. There is a business-like way con- nected with this entire plant that makes one feel like there is really { something in the business. The hous- es are well put together and con- MR. THEO, HEWES ‘structed in such a way as to give both style and comfort to the fowls. The Reliable Incubator plant is too well knwn to the fraternity to need any mention here. I will say, however, that during these extreme hard times, they are furnishing employment to some fifty-five or sixty employes, and it is looked on as one of the very best industries in the city of Quincy. THEO. HEWES, Poultry Judge. 124 SUCCESS WITH POULTRY SCENES ON THE RELIABLE POULTRY FARM. (From Photographs.) 125 SUCCESS WITH POULTRY Barred Plymouth Rock Cockerel, - Bred and owned by the Reliable Incubator and Brooder, Co. Winner of first prize four times in November and December, 1907, and January, 1908. 108 birds in competition at last show. Bw, rs ves seen Barred Plymouth Rock Pullet. Bred and owned: by the Reliable’ Incubator and Brooder Co. Winner of first prize four times in November and December, 1907, and January, 1908. - 84 birds in competition at last show. See page 3 for. pen of Barred | Plymouth Rocks, bred and owned by the Reliable Incubator and Brooder Co. Winners of first prizes as pen at each of the above shows. Last show 21 pens in competition. Crawfordsville,. Ind., April 30, 1907. Reliable Incubator and Brooder Co., Quincy, Il.. Gentlemen—I have been using your brooder for- some _time and it has given excellent success. I would not do without it. Your indoor brooder is far in advance of any- _ thing I have ever used. Yours truly, | - MRS. ISAAC DAVIS, No. Grant Ave., Box 107, Crawfordsville, Ind. ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF THE RELIABLE AWARDS. GENERAL INTERNATIONAL EXPOSITION with advertising and sale / NAPLES August-October, -1907. , Under the High Patronage of 60 towns of Southern Italy. Committee and Administration Office Via Roma 323. Administration Office. Naples, Oct. 31, 1907. Mr. Leandro Nardini, Rome. It is with the greatest pleasure that I have the honor of announcing you that the Jury of this’ Ex- position has awarded for the Incubator. The diploma of the GRAND PRIX and Gold Medal. Kindly accept my hearty congratulations for the well-deserved honor, and T Leandro Nardini, Agent for Hele you my respects. Incubators and Brooders. _ Spects. a: THE GENERAL MANAGER. G. Petragna. The present temporary certificate must be confirmed by the regular diploma. III. THE ARKANSAS ALLIGATOR FARM. Hot Springs, Ark., December 30, 1904. Reliable Incubator and Brooder Co., Quincy, Tll.: Gentlemen—The ineubator was received in perfect or- der. I think your new machines are excellent and well put together. I put it to work a few hours after I received it. I have been hatching alligators with your incubator and I enclose you photo showing you the success that I am hav- ing. I hatched every alligator egg put in the machine in three successive hatches, and am well pleased. The last machine I bought from you I shall use for hatching alligators and also. chickens. JI shall recommend your machine to everybody wanting to purchase. I first got acquainted with your machine when managing the Florida Ostrich Farm; used it there to hatch ostriches with good results. Wishing you the success you so well deserve, I remain, Yours very truly, H. I. CAMPBELL, Mgr. 126 HAMMOND STOCK FARMS, Ltd. Hammond, La., Dec. 6, 1907. Reliable Incubator Co., Quincy, IIl.: . It is perhaps a little late for us to express ourself as to the good quality of poultry we received in the lot of 800 birds we purchased of you last fall. We can state without fear of contradiction that we received better value for money invested than any of the several purchases we made. You can refer any prospective customer to us and it will be a pleasure for us to say a good -word for you. -SUCCESS WITH POULTRY Mineral Point, Wis., April 29, 1907. _ Reliable Incubator and Brooder Co., Quincy, IL: Gentlemen—I think the indoor brooder I received from you a short time ago is the best I have ever seen. It works splendid, raises the chicks nicely, Yours truly, FRED VIVIAN, Iowa Co., Mineral Point, Wis. Hot Springs, Ark., May 3, 1907. Reliable Incubator and Brooder Co., Quincey, Ill.: Gentlemen—The outdoor brooders you sent us have proved themselves invaluable, as without them we would have lost hundreds of our baby alligators, ow- ing to the unusual cold and frosty nights we have been thaving at this time of year. ‘We find’ they hold a steady and even tem- perature, are well ven- tilated, easily handled, and, in fact, cannot speak too highly of’ them. 7 As soon as the nest- ing season begins, we will place an order with you for two or three more of your large hot- air incubators, as last season we had _ such good success with them, hatching over 98 per cent of the alligator eggs. Yours respectfully, THE ARKANSAS AL- Exact reproduction of the Hammond Poultry Farm showing the Reliable Incubat in ‘ul op We gave the eleven large siz incubators of your 1907 pattern a good test with hen, duck and geese eggs and we take pleasure in stating that they give satisfaction with all. The coming season we expect to do great work with the machines and you can refer any ‘prospective customer you wish to us. Appreciating your business courtesy and anxiety to do the right thing by your customers, we are 3 Very truly, ; Hammond Stock Farms, Ltd., T. 8. SCANLON, Mgr. Milwaukee, Wis., February 22, 1907. Reliable Incubator and Brooder Co., Quincy, Tll.: Gentlemen—I have one of your Standard Reliable Hot- Aid Incubators, 100-egg size. I purchased the incubator of you last year and obtained great results. Thanking you in advance for your courtesy, I am, Yours very truly, W. R. THOMSON, 126. Miller Bldg. Waynetown, Ind., April 4, 1907. Reliable Incubator and Brooder Co., Quincy, III: Gentlemen—I am now using six (6) Standard Reliable Ineubators. My first hatch from one of your 200-egg size incubators this season was 162 Brown Leghorn stock. Yours truly, M. L. MATTHEWS. LIGATOR FARM, H. I. Campbell, Mgr. Meriden, Conn., August 10, 1907. Reliable Incubator and Brooder Co., Quincy, IIl.: Gentlemen—Received the incubator, tried it twice, and am more than delighted with it. Have seen three different ones tried and mine beats them all. I am more than pleased, and yet I have given it no attention at all; still it ‘does splendid work. I think I can sell one or two for you a little later. I shall always recommend it to everyone. Respectfully, MRS. C. M. RULON, Spruce St., Meriden, Conn. Corydon, Ind., March 27, 1907. Reliable Incubator and Brooder Co., Quincy, IIL: Gentlemen—In the spring of 1906 I purchased a 200-egg size Standard Reliable Incubator from you, which has given the best of satisfaction. Yours for success, EMORY O. LA HUE. South Bend, Ind., March 26, 1907. Reliable Incubator and Brooder Co., Quincy, IIL: Gentlemen—I am using one of your Standard machines and seems as good and works as well as when I purchased it twelve (12) years ago. Yours respectfully, MR. W. C] JACKSON. SUCCESS WITH POULTRY. Perry, Mo., May 29, 1907. Reliable Incubator and Brooder Co., Quincy, IIL. Gentlemen—I send you today a kodak picture of my - Gentlemen—Some time ago I out-door brooder and chickens. This is the first hatch first ers and I must say it is a dandy. c A Scene from Hammond Stock Farms, Ltd., Hammond, La. A few of the thoroughbred chickens supplied to the Hammond Poultry Farms from' the Reliable Poultry Farm I had in my Reliable Incubator; 1 got 250 chicks out of 272 eggs. There were 22 eggs that did not hatch for some reason; didn’t break them. I have set my ineubator the fourth time; it has hatched 880 chicks. I am going to set it again; this time will make -it 1,000 at least. I set it in my ' pantry, as I could not get it in my cellar. I have Light Brahmas and Leghorns. The brooder has done wonderful work, also. I could not do without it. I do not lose any of my chickens with this brooder. Respectfully, MRS. JOHN W. SCOBEE, Perry, Mo. 4 ed Hammond Stock Farms, Ltd., Hammond, La. Canon City, Colo., April 20, 1907. Reliable Incubator and -Brooder Co., Quincey, Tl.: Gentlemen—I am going to send you the results of your incubator, as I promised. I like it very much, the heat regulator works good. I ean regulate it to. one degree and two years ago has given perfect In care Rosenbaum Machinery - A Partial View of Hammond Stock Farms, Ltd., Hammond, La. it hatched out better than the hens that I set at the samo time. How is this for a Bantling? With the best wishes, I remain, _ Yours very truly, CHARLES PHIPPS, 612 River St. Canon City, Colo. more incubators and brooders later 127 Bradford, Ill., May 16, 1907. Reliable Incubator and Brooder Co., Quincy, Ill.: bought one of your brood- I never lost a chick in it and it was out in the snow and rain. You will have. several orders for brooders around here. Yours very truly, MRS. M. DICKERSON, R. R. No. 5 Siloam Springs, Ark., April 15, 1907. Reliable Incubator and ' Brooder Co., Quincey, Ill: - Gentlemen—The large brooder-we bought of you last year -gives perfect satisfaction. Yours truly, Cc. R. SAFFELL, Little Rock, Ark., May 7, 1907. Reliable Incubator and Brooder Co., Quincey, Ill.:. View of the Breeding House, Brooder House and Pigeon Loft, reading from left to right. Gentlemen—The 210-egg machine that I purchased about satisfaction. I intend to get another, but I want nothing but the Reliable. Yours very truly, MR. C. A. WELLS, Co., Little Rock, Ark. North East, Md., February 5, 1907. Reliable Incubator and Brooder Co., Quincy, IL: Gentlemen—I read in the Poultry Keeper that you had issued a new cat- alogue. I have been using your incubators and brooders and find them O. K., far in advance of anything else in this sec- tion of the country. Will you kindly send me your new Silver Jubilee cata- logue, and greatly oblige? I may be in the market for on: Yours truly, JAMES 8. MAFFITT, . BR. F. D. No. 2, North East, Md. ‘ 128 SUCCESS WITH POULTRY comparing their poor success with the few troubles I have had, I can not speak too highly of the Reliable Ineubator, For the first hatch, I placed 160 eggs in my machine. These eggsI secured from different neigh- bors, but nevertheless I hayehed 120 healthy and live- ly chickens. s In regard to moisture, T must say the Reliable is superior from ‘‘A’’ to ‘‘4’’ to any other in mois- ture, and as the moisture question is one of the most important points in artificial incubation, I, as well as many of my friends who have seen my machine in operation, believe the Reliable is the incubator of today. I wish to*thank you for the machine you -sent me, of which J am very proud, and assure you of my loyalty to the Reliable Inenbator and Brooder Com- pany, I remain; Yours truly, H, D. MeMAHAN. 7a Thomas, Okla., March, 1907. Relidble Incubator and Brooder Co., Quincey, IIL: Gentlemen—I will say a few words about your 200- “egg size incubator I bought from you four. years ago. It is in good shape yet, in fact it is just as good . as new, and I hatched 195 good, strong chickens from Winterport, Me., Oct. 26, 1907. two hundred eggs. That is good enough for me. Now, Reliable Incubator and Brooder Co., Quincy, I: I want to buy five gallons of Lice Killer, the same I got Gentlemen—As I promised, will write you the result from you-before, but I have forgotten the price. Please of your machines. My experience has proved to me that send me the price of a five gallon can, and I would like one your regulator is much better than any others. of your Annual Poultry Books. I think now that I will buy Will want one of. your machines next year and will : try to sell a few. I am recommending your machines to different parties. Hoping to hear from you, 1 am, Most truly yours, WALTER 8. CLARK, Yours penpectt ally, Pleasant Valley Farm, Winterport, Me. MR. CLARK McGAFFIN, ——— Thomas, Custer County, Oklahoma. Purchase, N. Y¥., Oct. 19, 1907. Reliable Incubator and Brooder Co., Quiney, Ill: Gentlemen—Please send me the price of your Buff Plymouth Rock cock one year old, as I would like to get one to breed from. I have not as yet purchased any of your fowls so would like to try them. If your poultry is as good as your in- eubators are will not be ashamed ‘to rccom- mend them to anyone. Please answer by return mail, Yours truly, ALBERT 8. BATES, Purchase, Westchester Co., N. Y. H. D. McMahan’s Hatch. another incubator this summer, and I would like to get your prices on White Rose Comb Leghorn eggs by the one hundred lots. Fair Play, Mo., Sept. 25, 1907, Reliable Incubator and Brooder Co., Quiney, fl: 3 = Gentlemen—The incubator I recently purchased from Scottsburg, Ind., March 6, 1907. you has given me entire satisfaction in every respect. I am Reliable Incubator and Brooder Co., Quincy, Il: enclosing a photograph which I took of my machine my- Gentlemen—I received your catalogue. Thanks for self during the first hatch. In the way of ‘‘first hateh’? same. I have one of the 220-egg size Bantling Incubators, I mean this is the first experience I have ever had with and it gives me good satisfaction. Yours truly, an artificial hatching machine, and I wish to state from ELI J. RICKEY, the various other machines my neighbors have used, and /R. BR. No. 1, Scottsburg, Ind. The Largest Poultry Supply House and Incubator and Brooder Factory in America corra NE “oe Z WHEE ce > SE seule Gn fe , sey EX*ABLE “WQULTRY JOURNAL. POSITIVELY NO CONTRACT WORK Every Article Manufactured Com- plete Under Our Own Supervision SEND FOR OUR CATALOGUE ADDRESS RELIABLE INCUBATOR & BROODER CO. @ ~ QUINCY, ILLINOIS, U.S.A. Ba ~ LM Ye Uy a4 \ bi A a Zz